Barratt says reservations down a third

LONDON (Reuters) - Barratt Developments (BDEV.L), Britain's second largest house builder by volume, said on Wednesday reservations in 2008 were down a third year-on-year as buyers struggle to get mortgages in the global credit crunch.

"Since the end of March, market conditions have deteriorated significantly as a result of an unprecedented reduction in mortgage availability and tightening lending criteria, combined with a decline in consumer confidence," Barratt said.

The comment chimes with recent statements from rivals and the timing ties in with a report early in April from Halifax, the country's biggest mortgage lender, that house prices fell 2.5 percent in March, as competition in the mortgage market all but disappeared and availability dried up.

Barratt said it had an average 206 reservations per week over the past six weeks, half the average in the first half of 2007. Cancellation rates have also risen in the past six weeks.

"Market conditions are impacting to varying degrees on regional performance, with the Midlands and West worst affected, whilst the London and South East markets are proving to be relatively more resilient," it said, adding it was being highly selective in starting any new sites.

Nevertheless, Chief Executive Mark Clare said: "Despite the deterioration in current trading conditions, we expect to deliver a satisfactory outcome for the current financial year".

The housing market, which enjoyed a boom stretching back to the mid-1990s that saw many valuations more than triple, had been slowing before the global credit crisis began last summer, and house builders' share prices have slumped.

Price growth has been driven by demand. The government estimates the number of households is outgrowing housing stock by 38,000 every year due to immigration and more people living alone, and analysts see that demand cushioning any fall.

(Reporting by Dan Lalor; Editing by Louise Ireland)