A couple of high profile, well known house builders have recently had to slash their workforce by around 40% as a result of the housing market, which has all but ground to a halt due to lack of property sales and plummeting house prices. Property sales have now plummeted because many people are unable to get a mortgage in the current financial climate, with lenders tightening up on their lending criteria, and many others do not want to buy property in case the value continues to fall.

Both Redrow and Bovis, the housing development companies, have seen property sales figures slump, and as a result have had to dramatically cut staffing levels.

One official from Redrow said: ‘It remains difficult to assess how long the sharp reduction in sales activity will continue or the extent to which house prices will be affected. However, we expect the difficult markets we are confronting may persist for some time.’

He went on to state: ‘The housing market continues to be severely affected by the credit squeeze. Homebuyer confidence is now also being influenced by concerns about the future for house prices and interest rates. As a result, the market for both new and second-hand homes has declined rapidly to transaction levels not experienced for very many years with the price of homes now declining.’

The Chief Executive of Bovis Homes added: ‘The backdrop to the market is pretty awful. The volumes have been affected by that backdrop, which has largely been caused by the turmoil in the financial markets, and the inability to get a mortgage has been a massive constraint on the consumer.’

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