Persimmon hailed an "excellent" 65% hike in profits today as it overcame a sluggish market by focusing on building family homes in affluent areas.

The York-based builder, which was started in Newcastle and whose brands include Charles Church and Westbury, saw revenues rise 13% to £806.7 million in the six months to June 30.

The strategy helped underlying pre-tax profits hit £98.7m, meaning the group is on course to ramp up dividend payments as part of plans to return £1.9bn of surplus cash to shareholders over the next nine years.

The group said private reservations have slowed from the 18% growth in the first half but are still 5% ahead of last year since the start of July, while it has already sold 220 homes through the Government’s NewBuy scheme, which encourages the return of 95% mortgages.