British housebuilders and mortgage lenders called for more clarity on how the government will wind down a support scheme for struggling housebuyers which has boosted developers’ profit forecasts amid fears of a new property bubble.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey today said it returned to profit over the first six months of this year, despite selling fewer houses in the period.

British housebuilder Taylor Wimpey today reported a fall in house sales but said there were signs that the mortgage drought may be easing.

Shares in part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group raced 11% ahead today after the bank said the worst of its HBOS bad debts were behind it.

A £4bn (€4.72bn) loss caused by toxic loans at acquisition HBOS failed to prevent shares in Lloyds Banking Group from surging by more than 10% today.