LONDON (Reuters) - The downturn in the housing market has gathered pace and now feels "an awful lot worse" than the last major correction in the early 1990s, the chief executive of builder Bovis Homes (BVS.L: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Wednesday.

"Many people are commenting now that this feels an awful lot worse than the downturn in the early 1990s, which I would certainly concur with," David Ritchie told Reuters.

Bovis said earlier on Wednesday that sales for 2008 completion were down 35 percent in the six months to June 30, but Ritchie added the decline had accelerated to around two-thirds for the last eight weeks of that period. The housebuilder also announced that it planned to cut 400 jobs and slash its dividend to cope with the dire housing market.

He added, however, that Bovis was "some way" from a requirement to write down the value of its land holdings, unlike some of its rivals which have already signalled big write-downs.

"Our business was reported this morning as having gross housing margins of 26 percent. That would mean house prices would have to fall by a significant amount, crudely the same sort of level, to mean that on average our sites were not able to make a profit," he said in a telephone interview.

Ritchie said he welcomed the government's pledge to look at ways of supporting the housing market, but did not expect a boost in the near term.

"We applaud the efforts that are being made, but it's slow in delivery," he said.