At the start of the year we carried a comment piece from David Pretty, the former Barratt chief executive, detailing two scenarios that housebuilders would have in place in the run-up to the spring selling season. Plan A: tighten belt, motivate salesforce, slow down construction and apply caution when buying land. The alternative was Plan B: stamp on the brakes. Sadly the turmoil in the financial markets has forced B on them, and since the new year our headlines have been dominated by offices closed, staff axed and developments postponed. And look at the statistics released this week: planning applications down 43% in March (page 24), margins heading south (page 20) and the biggest fall in prices since 1992. Then there's the death of the 100% mortgage. So, everything points to the market getting worse. Much of what happens next is outside housebuilders' control. Fingers crossed for an interest rate cut - a decision was due yesterday, after we went to press. And let's hope Sir James Crosby, the banker drafted in by Alistair Darling, finds ways to make money available to lenders quickly.
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