Berkeley reported ready to buy cheap building land

LONDON (Reuters) - Property developer Berkeley Group BKG_u.L is ready to buy land from distressed sellers as it builds up a 1 billion pound venture with a Saudi billionaire, the Times newspaper reported on Saturday.

While a downturn in the once-booming housing market is hitting other homebuilders hard, Berkeley is looking to put a cash pile, accumulated before last summer's credit crunch, to work.

"It will be a good opportunity to buy if this carries on," Rob Perrins, the company's finance director told the newspaper.

"Prices are beginning to fall. We are looking at a number of opportunities."

Berkeley, which focuses on London and south-east England, agreed a joint venture last year with Saad Investments, a fund owned by Saudi billionaire investor Maan al-Sanea.

The joint venture has around 100 million pounds to spend on its first round of acquisitions, the Times reported.

Berkeley said in March it expected profit for the full-year to be at the higher end of market expectations, despite a fall in property and land values.

House prices fell last month at their fastest annual rate in 15 years, according to the Halifax, Britain's biggest mortgage lender.

Derivative prices show investors expect the average cost of a home to fall by a further 14 percent over the coming 12 months.

(Reporting by Christina Fincher; Editing by Tim Castle)