Taylor Wimpey plc announced yesterday the closure of 13 offices and 900 job cuts.

UK housebuilder Taylor Wimpey plc announced yesterday the closure of 13 offices and 900 job cuts, while its share price halved in value.

The firm, which is Britain’s biggest housebuilder in terms of volume, said in a trading statement: “Our major markets are experiencing a significant downturn, characterised by significantly lower weekly sales rates and lower average selling prices than in recent years.”

It is understood the group’s redundancies will be complete by the end of September this year; the job and office cuts will save the group £45 million a year. It also revealed that group finance director Peter Johnson was stepping down at the end of this year.

Taylor Wimpey had been expected to unveil a capital injection of about £500m ($998 million) from shareholders and other investors to help see it through the credit crunch and the housing market downturn.

However, after failing to raise the extra capital it said: “We confirmed in our statement on 30th June, that we were meeting with a number of existing and potential investors with a view to raising further equity capital. However, in light of current market conditions we have not been able to conclude a satisfactory transaction.”

The British group, with operations in the United States, saw its share price recover slightly in late trade to close at 35 pence. However it was still a plunge of 41.67% compared with the end of play on Tuesday.

Other housebuilders were also hit, with Barratt down 28.6%, Persimmon off 21.1% and Bovis Homes 16.2% lower.

The company said housing reservations had declined sharply since its last update in April, with UK housing reservations down 45% year-on-year and both its order book and home completions down a third.

“The board remains convinced of the fundamental attractions of the business over the medium and long term. We will continue to evaluate options to secure that value for our shareholders,” the company said on Wednesday.