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LONDON, April 17 (Reuters) - British housebuilder TaylorWimpey said it had enjoyed strong sales in the firstquarter as government help continued to stoke buyer demand, asit reported a 22 percent uplift in the average selling price ofits homes.
The company said on Thursday that it expects average salesrates for the year to be slightly ahead of 2013, after itachieved an average private net reservation rate of 0.75 salesper outlet per week, up from 0.66 at the same time last year.
The average selling price for its homes surged to 248,900pounds from 204,800 pounds, while its total order book value hit1.6 billion pounds, 33 percent higher than last year.
"The UK housing market remains buoyant and our customerscontinue to benefit from a more accessible and affordablemortgage market," Chief Executive Pete Redfern said.
The British house building sector is benefiting from a widerrebound in buyer demand after the launch of government schemesto help buyers attain mortgages.
Taylor Wimpey said the better market had resulted in ongoingpressure on build costs and labour, but that this was still atmanageable levels.
(Reporting by Brenda Goh, Editing by Paul Sandle)
