British finance minister Rishi Sunak extended tax breaks for home buyers until October and unveiled a mortgage guarantee scheme in Wednesday's budget, moves that further bolster the housing sector after Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week unveiled a phased exit plan from COVID-19 lockdowns.

The FTSE midcap firm said it was confident pre-tax profit would more than double this year to at least 310 million pounds ($432.57 million) and resumed dividend payments with a 20 pence per share final payout.

"We have a strong forward sales position with 64% of total housebuilding and mixed tenure units for 2021 secured," Vistry said.

Housing demand in Britain had rebounded in mid-2020, helped by stamp duty relief, low interest rates and consumers seeking bigger homes to meet the demands of remote work during the pandemic.

British house price growth picked up unexpectedly last month, data released on Tuesday showed, after multiple industry surveys suggested the boom in the market had cooled sharply in January when the country went back into lockdown.

Vistry also said adjusted pre-tax profit for the year ended Dec. 31 came in at 143.9 million pounds, better than its expectations, but below the 188.2 million pounds posted a year earlier.

Bigger rivals Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey have also forecast strong market activity this year.

($1 = 0.7166 pounds)

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)