BARRETT Developments said today it expects its number of sites to decline as it responds to a "significant" deterioration in market conditions.
The group said new projects were only being started on a highly selective basis and where it has clear visibility of demand and work-in- progress can be tightly controlled.
In a trading update, Barratt said its forward order book currently stood a
t around £1.56bn, compared with £2.1bn seen a year earlier.
It said it was seeing greater pricing pressure across all regions and that sales incentives were being required to stimulate demand.
Barratt added: "Current market conditions are impacting to varying degrees on regional performance, with the Midlands and West worst affected, whilst the London and South East markets are proving to be relatively more resilient.
"The group continues to benefit from a broad geographic and product mix and a targeted exposure to the London market."
Barratt briefly became the UK's biggest housebuilder following last year's £2.2bn acquisition of Wilson Bowden, but dropped out of the FTSE 100 Index in December as its shares were hit by the credit crunch.
Barratt said total housebuilding revenues for the 19 weeks to May 11 were £825m, a drop of 7.6 per cent on the proforma figure for last year. Completions were down 5.5 per cent, with an increase in the proportion of social housing to 18 per cent.
Net reservations per week averaged 276 over the period, down 33.6 per cent against the prior year.
Despite the trading conditions, chief executive Mark Clare said the company still expected a satisfactory outcome in terms of full-year results.
He added: "We do not expect to see a meaningful upturn in the housing market until there are improvements in the availability of mortgage finance.
"We do, however, continue to believe the medium-term outlook remains strong given the restricted supply of housing in the UK."
The update echoes comments from rivals in recent weeks, including Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Redrow.
Numis Securities said: "Barratt's statement shows the slowing level of activity in the housing market is having an impact on both volumes and prices – albeit to a lesser extent than some of its peers."
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