A reduction in home-loan costs will provide some relief for the British housing sector after months of sluggish demand and weak trading, but wider economic challenges including recession fears have doused hopes of a robust recovery.

"Looking ahead, it is encouraging to see a reduction in mortgage rates, however, in the short term, the market remains uncertain and the planning backdrop extremely challenging," Chief Executive Jennie Daly said in a full-year trading statement.

The FTSE 100 company reiterated its 2023 operating profit expectations, but added that it had entered the current fiscal year with a reduced order book and refrained from providing home-build targets.

The High Wycombe, UK-based company said its year-end order book - a key measure in gauging short-term sales performance - excluding joint ventures stood at 1.77 billion pounds ($2.26 billion), compared with 1.94 billion pounds a year earlier.

The company, which also has a minor presence in Spain, said it built 10,438 homes in Britain, including joint ventures, in 2023, within its production target range.

On Wednesday, Taylor Wimpey's sector peer Persimmon said it expects trading conditions to remain challenging this year despite signs of slowdown easing in the housing market.

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru and Suban Abdulla in London; Editing by Rashmi Aich)