Britain’s leading housebuilder to write-off £600m

Posted under General by Alan

Britain’s leading housebuilder Persimmon will be writing off £600 million, amounting to nearly 19% of its land value.

The York based company has warned that the housing market downturn was gathering momentum making it forecast a fall of 10% in the selling price of new houses during the second half of the current year, which is twice the estimation it made previously.

The house builder informed that 40% of buyers who had paid deposits on homes withdrew it due to a continuous fall in house prices and mortgage shortages which impacted the property market adversely. The company has been passing through worsening trading conditions.

Persimmon reported that uncertainty in the housing market as a result of turbulent outlook of financial markets impacted all its regions. However it reported positive results in social housing sales and claimed that a 25% growth target was well on track.

Meanwhile, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicted a 25% fall in house prices by value from their peak. It believes that prices will not recover to the peak attained in 2007 until 2013.

The downturn is reported to have claimed another victim after the takeover of David McLean Holdings Ltd by administrators. The Flintshire-based company with offices in Shrewsbury and Cardiff employs 320 people.