Persimmon has warned that the general election is making it more difficult to secure planning permission for new sites, which is holding back housebuilding.

Despite this, one of Britain’s biggest housebuilding groups said sales had been strong in the first 15 weeks of the new year, thanks to a healthy forward order book. Sales revenue is 7% higher than last year at £2bn. Persimmon has sold 7,375 new private homes with an average selling price of £207,00, 4% higher than last year.

Persimmon has opened 85 of 120 new sites planned for the first half. But it warned: “In line with past experience it has become increasingly difficult to secure planning consent for sites as May’s general election approaches. While we would expect such delays to be short term in nature, they are hindering the expansion in the number of active outlets required by the housebuilding industry to support an increase in the volume of newly built homes delivered to the market.”

The company has taken on more than 80 trainees who have left the armed forces and expects to recruit more than 300 service members this year. The industry faces severe skill shortages, which have driven up wages, in particular for bricklayers.

Lewis Sturdy, dealer at London Capital Group, said: “Just as the major political parties say they need to up housing output, Britain’s most valuable housebuilder admits to a slowing of new developments as the upcoming general election puts the brakes on local planning permits. Persimmon highlights the general election but it seems more a speed bump that will temporarily pause the pace of growth as pent-up demand remains in the wider economy.”