"As employment prospects remain positive and mortgage availability is good, customer demand for our homes has been strong in spite of some wider macroeconomic uncertainty," Chief Executive Pete Redfern said.

"With a strong order book in place, we are confident in our prospects for the remainder of the year and looking further ahead."

First half pretax profit rose to 301 million pounds from 205 million pounds in the same period last year, backed by a rise in UK private average selling price to 295,000 pounds versus 287,000 in 2017.

(Reporting by Elisabeth O'Leary; editing by Kate Holton)