London housebuilder Tony Pidgley today urged the Government to kick-start mortgage lending to save the property market from total collapse.

The managing director and founder of Berkeley Group Holdings said the £37 billion taxpayer bailout of British banks including Halifax owner HBOS did not go far enough.

He aadded that cuts in interest rates would only work if they are passed on by banks in a market he described as "the most challenging for over 30 years".

Pidgley said: "The Government thinks it has done enough to get the mortgage market running by recapitalising the banks. But the problem is they haven't put enough money in to get them lending. We need to get the message through to the Government that if they don't start to get lending going, house prices will continue to fall."

Pidgley revealed that sales were down 55% on normal levels in the six months to the end of October. Berkeley sold 968 homes at an average price of £399,000 compared with 1630 at £245,000 in the first half last year.

He said the average selling price was up thanks to the sale of £1 million homes at St George Wharf and Imperial Wharf on the banks of the Thames with prices across London down 20% this year. Berkeley posted a 2.5% rise in revenues to £452.6 million but a 12.1% fall in profits to £79.6 million. Pidgley said: "We are having as bad a time as anyone. Our sales are down 55% but I think it is levelling out. I think there is a will to buy. If you could free up the mortgages, I think you would get a stable housing market."

Pidgley, who predicted the 1990s housing crash and made a fortune in the process, said he was looking to snap up land from distressed developers to build on once the market turns.

Berkeley shares have fared far better than those of rival housebuilders this year, trading 34% down on their peak compared with losses of 96% at Taylor Wimpey and 88% at Barratt. They were today up 28p at 816½p.