UK housebuilder Taylor Wimpey sees persistent high demand despite inflation woes

(Reuters) - Britain's Taylor Wimpey on Tuesday shrugged off fears of stubborn inflation leading to a slowdown in the housing sector as the country's third-largest homebuilder forecast sustained demand in an under-supplied market.

UK homebuilders have pointed to a resilient housing market, partly on robust demand for larger homes suitable for remote working from buyers who saved up during the pandemic as well as the availability of cheap loans, dispelling slowdown woes amid the growing costs of living.

"We have continued to make good progress against our strategic priorities, including driving growth in operating profit margin and outlet openings," said Chief Executive Officer-designate Jennie Daly, who will take over the top role from Pete Redfern later on Tuesday.

Taylor Wimpey said its focus remained on delivering operating profit margin target of 21% to 22% in the medium term, adding that it stayed on track to deliver against annual financials outlook announced last month.

The FTSE 100 firm said its order book stood at 2.97 billion pounds ($3.79 billion) as of April 17, compared with 2.81 billion pounds in the year-ago period, when the sector was supported by several government measures.

The company, which was aggressively buying land during the pandemic, said strong house price levels are offsetting labour and material cost inflation and the recent rise in interest rates has not dented customer appetite.

($1 = 0.7841 pounds)

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)