PERSIMMON Homes' new Teesside office helped the York housebuilder record a 45 per cent rise in pre-tax profits.

Jeff Fairburn, managing director of the North-East division of Persimmon, said the operation, which has created 300 jobs directly and is responsible for another 700 sub-contract and supply posts, had already become very well established.

The divide between house price growth across the country was highlight by the results, which showed prices in the North increased by 18.3 per cent in the past 12 months compared with a rise of 7.7 per cent in the South.

The group's North division completed 2,568 homes at an average selling price of £148,962, up on last year's total of 2,375 homes at £125,956.

The company also sounded a positive note for the future as a number of developments are coming to the market shortly, including ones at Darlington, Crook, Stockton, Ingleby Barwick, Hartlepool and Consett, from the Teesside office.

Mr Fairburn said: "We are very bullish about the market and we are in good form to capture that."

William Maydon, assistant director at fund manager Wise Speke, said: "With the interest rate environment looking a little more benign and the tremendous dividend increases on offer, never mind the fantastic capital performance from the shares since early 2000, Persimmon is a quality long-term investment opportunity."