Autumn Statement 2015: George Osborne pledges support for house builders

Housebuilders have roared higher on hopes of a lift from the Autumn Statement but Chancellor George Osborne still faced a mountain to climb on the deficit.

The Chancellor was set to pump an extra £4 billion into boosting the number of homes available to buy under shared ownership schemes by 135,000 over the course of the parliament - forming part of his ambitions to build an extra 400,000 homes by 2020/21.

Local authorities and private builders could share a reported £6.9 billion boost.

The news sent the FTSE 100 Index’s listed housebuilders rocketing, with Persimmon gaining 87p or 5% to 1869p.

Barratt Developments, Berkeley Homes and Taylor Wimpey all rose 4%. In the FTSE 250, Bovis Homes, Bellway and Crest Nicholson advanced 3%.

Taylor Wimpey chief executive Pete Redfern - conducting a review of housing provision for the Labour Party - told the Standard: “It appears to be a concerted and genuine effort to improve home ownership.”

Jon Di-Stefano, head of London-focused builder Telford Homes, added: “We would always welcome anything that would encourage housebuilding in London and across England although the devil will be in the detail.