Thousands face job axe as housing slump bites

Home Builders Federation chairman Stewart Baseley said: "There isn't a builder in the land who isn't considering overheads and job losses. I've never seen a downturn escalate as quickly as this."

Baseley said he believed tens of thousands among the UK's 300,000-strong building workforce would be laid off, with more going in related industries. The increased gloom came as Wolseley, the British-based builders' merchant that is the world's largest, said trade is worsening in the UK, and that will lead to as-yet-unspecified job cuts.

Wolseley, which employs 13,500 people and trades in the UK under brands including Plumb Center, Build Center and bathstore.com, said in a trading statement: "There has been a more pronounced slowdown in the UK over recent weeks. Wolseley UK experienced a more challenging April as the market slowed significantly."

Finance director Steve Webster said: "We had warned earlier in the year that we expected a softening of the market, but there really has been a marked change in the UK in the last six weeks.

"I do not think we have reached the bottom yet, and it could yet get worse. We do not know when that will change. It is plainly a result of the overhang of the global liquidity crisis and the lack of mortgage capacity in the UK market.

"There is basic demand but the consumer's finances are not in place. The only thing I would say is that we are a long way off the devastation in the US.

"We are not announcing any job cuts in the UK and Europe at the moment. That is under review and we will make an announcement when necessary."

The company, which today reported a 6% slump in profits over the past three months, has already begun a £50 million costs and headcount reduction in the US. It said there would be more to come, especially in its UK and European businesses, over the summer months.

Wolseley made its gloomy prognosis amid the worst housing slump in a generation, with latest statistics revealing that housing starts this year are down by 25% as the price of homes has gone into reverse after years of inflation-busting growth. Taylor Wimpey, the country's biggest builder, has said it is to lay off 600 staff. Redrow is to let 200 workers go and Crest Nicholson said it has parted company with 80 staff. Barratt Developments has also warned it will be laying off house-builders.

Baseley said in an interview with news agency Bloomberg that he had not witnessed anything like the current downturn in the building industry, and reiterated his recent calls for the Bank of Englandmonetary policy committee to cut interest rates further.