The firm said improvements in mortgage availability boosted home sales 6% to 2,597 homes in the six months to the end of January.

The national uplift was delivered by a strong performance from the house builder’s traditional base in the north where sales jumped 9% to 1,278 units.

Pre-tax profit in the period rose nearly 50% to £60m on turnover ahead 10% at £502m.

Ted Ayers, chief executive said: “Since the start of the calendar year, there has been an encouraging increase in the number of visitors to sites and this, coupled with marginal improvements in the accessibility of higher loan to value mortgage finance, continues to support the reservation rate.

Reservations in the six weeks since 1 February have increased to 133 per week, an increase of over 10% compared with the same period last year.

As a result, Bellway has reserved or legally completed 94% of its current full year volume target.

“The board welcomes the recently announced budget measures to support the housing market.

“While it is too early to assess the effect these measures may have, we remain hopeful that they will lead to improvements in mortgage accessibility.”