Taylor Woodrow and Wimpey have US operations that overlap

But Taylor Wimpey - formed by the merger of George Wimpey and Taylor Woodrow - said though the market was "subdued", conditions remained stable.

It added that short-term conditions in the struggling US housing market "remained difficult to predict", but it was confident for the longer haul.

The firm saw pre-tax profits of �259m in the six months to 30 June.

Shares climbed 5% as it revealed it had found an additional �30m in cost savings from the merger and announced plans for a �750m share buyback.

Taylor Wimpey said that it would concentrate on forward selling as it tried to beat the tough trading environment, with its order book 5% ahead of last year.

UK interest rates have risen five times since August 2006 and now stand at 5.75%, pushing up the cost of mortgages.

In the US, the firm said that plunging land values in Florida and California had forced it to write down �60.9m from its books, on top of a �25m provision announced in May.

Rising interest rates and higher mortgage defaults, especially among the sub-prime market, have dented the US housing market.