Bellway builds profits as selling price rises During the first half of the financial year, Bellway posted pre-tax profits of £59.9m, up from £40.6m last time, as revenues increased 9.6pc to £502.5m. It sold 2,597 homes, an increase of 5.8pc. Under the new Help to Buy scheme, prospective house buyers with a 5pc deposit on the value of the property they are seeking to purchase will be eligible for a Government guarantee for a further 15pc. Separately, there are also plans for five-year interest-free loans for people who want to purchase new builds worth as much as £600,000. These measures follow the New Buy scheme announced last year, which aimed to help first-time buyers and boost construction of new homes by offering government-backed mortgages on new homes. Bellway said reservations had averaged 97 per week in the first half of the financial year - up 9pc on the same period the previous year - and Government schemes including New Buy and MI New Home accounted for 11pc of reservations taken in the period. Commenting on the Budget measures announced last week, Bellway chief executive Ted Ayres said: The availability of affordable, higher loan to value mortgage products has remained a constraint that has tempered consumer demands. The Board welcomes the recently announced Budget measures to support the housing market. Whilst it is too early to assess the effect these measures may have, we remain hopeful that they will lead to improvements in mortgage accessibility. Bellway upped its interim dividend by 50pc to 9p per share. It will be paid on 1 July 2013.