British housebuilders Persimmon, Telford boosted by strong market

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LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - British housebuilders Persimmon and Telford Homes (LSE: TEF.L - news) said the market for new homes continued to strengthen, underpinned by better availability of mortgages and demand from buyers outstripping supply.

Persimmon (Frankfurt: OHP.F - news) said its new financial year had started well, with private sales rates per site up 25 percent in the first 15 weeks of its year compared to a year ago.

The increased activity, driven in part by the government's "Help to Buy" scheme that helps buyers get mortgages, gave the group current total sales of 1.87 billion pounds ($3.13 billion)for 2014, 35 percent higher than in 2013.

Its smaller rival Telford Homes, which is focused on the booming London market, said on Wednesday that its pretax profit for the year to end-March 2014 would more than double on the previous year.

Shares in Telford were trading up 3.8 percent at 350 pence by 0725 GMT, while Persimmon was up 1.2 percent to 1,280 pence. ($1 = 0.5977 British Pounds) (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Brenda Goh)