Building company to sack hundreds

Persimmon said the market conditions had caused problems

One of the country's leading house builders is making hundreds of workers redundant amid the slump in the housing market.

Persimmon Homes, based in Fulford, York, had already announced it would not be opening any new sites until house sales began to improve.

The firm blamed the lack of cheap mortgages and a fall in consumer confidence for the downturn.

Work on about 30 new sites nationally has been postponed.

The company is now in consultation with workers about the planned cutbacks.

'Challenging market'

A spokesman for the firm said: "Persimmon can confirm that, like many in the industry, it is intending to reduce its workforce in the light of well-documented challenging market conditions.

"We're in the midst of a consultation process, but our expectation is at the end of process there will be several hundred redundancies.

"There will be no regional offices closed and Persimmon will maintain widespread local presence."

The firm announced the halt in new sites at its annual meeting in April.

Persimmon has about 500 sites operating nationwide, including about 20 in West Yorkshire and others in the Humber and South Yorkshire areas.

Now many of those employed in the construction of new homes are expected to lose their jobs.

The consultation period has started and is expected to be completed in early July.

On the company's website it said 4,500 people were employed by the firm across the UK.

Falling revenue

The firm said none of its regional offices would be closing.

In April, the company revealed its sales volumes were down 18% so far this year as demand for new properties weakened.

To counteract the slump, Persimmon offered more discounts and increased its marketing budget.

Earlier this year, it was announced the firm's revenues were affected, falling 24% to £1.37bn over the period from 1 January.