Latest results for the house builder show shareholders enjoyed the payout as Bellway boosted construction to 7,752 homes from 6,851 last time.

Average selling prices rose 5% to £223,821 as pre-tax profits jumped 44% to £354.2m for the year to July 31 2015 from £246m last time as turnover ticked-up to £1,765m from £1,484m.

Bellway saw operating margins increase to 20.4% as the pressure on construction costs began to ease.

The firm said: “There remain constraints regarding the availability of certain labour trades, with these pressures continuing to be most pronounced in and around the south east of the country.

“Notwithstanding this, the rate of increase in subcontract costs has reached a more modest level.

“There is still some inevitable, industry-wide upward pressure on material costs, most notably for bricks, blocks and some timber products.

“These cost increases are beginning to abate and are well controlled, with the vast majority of materials subject to Group procurement arrangements.”

Chairman, John Watson, said: “Bellway has produced another outstanding set of results, completing a record number of new homes, whilst simultaneously making a record investment in land and opening a further two new divisions in the last twelve months.

“This successful implementation of the Group’s disciplined growth strategy has enabled the Board to propose a final dividend of 52.0p per share, bringing the total dividend for the year to 77.0p.

“Bellway is well positioned to continue delivering its strategy for growth, investing in high quality locations and delivering further sustainable returns for shareholders.

“The outlook remains positive and the strength of the forward order book should enable the Group to achieve volume growth of up to 10% in the current financial year.”