Taylor Wimpey trims home completion guidance amid ‘challenging’ market

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has reduced its forecast for home completions this year as it continues to come under pressure from “challenging” conditions in the UK housing market.It came as property platform firm Rightmove blamed “subdued” demand for new homes as it cut its revenue growth guidance for the year.The UK property sector continues to face pressure from constrained household finances and elevated mortgage rates.On Friday, FTSE 250 firm Taylor Wimpey saw shares slide after updating shareholders.It revealed that home completions, including through joint ventures, fell to 4,986 for the first half of 2026, compared with 5,264 over the same period a year earlier.The drop in home completions follows a reduced sales rate since the start of the year.Taylor Wimpey said it expects to deliver between 10,600 and 10,800 completions in the UK this year, excluding joint ventures.It said this would be in the “lower half” of its previous forecast range provided in March.The group also told investors that it expects market conditions to “remain challenging” for the year, amid pressure from the combination of weaker underlying pricing and an increase in build costs of between 3% and 4%.In a statement, the company said: “We continue to support the Government’s housing ambition.“However, without targeted demand support and viability measures to unlock delivery, weaker demand, rising costs and limited affordable housing funding risks reducing sector output and UK economic growth.”Taylor Wimpey said total revenues were nonetheless up 1.7% to £1.68 billion for the half-year, following a 6.7% increase in average selling price on completions.The company also swung back to a pre-tax profit of £116.8 million.Elsewhere in the sector, online property portal firm Rightmove delivered stronger sales despite flagging headwinds in the new homes market.It revealed that growth in the new homes market was “subdued”, with a 6% reduction in new build developments compared with a year ago, despite a Government push for new housing.As a result, the company said group revenues to grow by between 6% and 8% this year, down from previous guidance of between 8% and 10%.Read MoreRightmove revealed than revenues increased by 7% to £225.8 million for the past six months, while operating profits were also up 2%.Johan Svanstrom, chief executive of Rightmove, said: “Despite the current volume headwinds in new homes, our continued momentum gives me confidence in 2026 and beyond.“We continue to execute our strategy to build the leading digital ecosystem for the entire home-moving experience, powered by exceptional data and network effects.”