HOWZAT

It said it continued to invest in buying land strategically and recruiting and developing high-quality management.

Last week TaylorWimpey, the country's largest housebuilder, warned that the UK housing market was stagnating and its chief executive Peter Redfern worried that the full effects of the credit crunch were yet to be felt.

Rachael Waring and Mark Hughes, of Panmure Gordon, slashed their share price target on Bovis to 690p from 735p and cut next year's earnings-per-share forecast to 72.2p from 84p.

"Bovis cannot be the only housebuilder to be feeling the pain and, therefore, we expect more statements like this to follow over the next few months," they said.

Three weeks ago Bovis bought Elite Homes to build up its presence in the North of England.

Mr Harris said at the time that Bovis would be involved to some degree in the consolidation of the house-building industry.

Bovis said that the acquisition was progressing well but would result in a one-off restructuring charge of about £2 million this year.

The trading update from Bovis today will add to the gloom beginning to descend on the all areas of the housing market.

The property website Hometrack reported last week that house prices had fallen by 0.1 per cent last month, after stagnating for the previous two months.

Hometrack said that property prices fell in every region of the UK, except in the West Midlands, where they were static.

Although Bovis homes tend to be bought by individuals and families on modest and middle incomes, its assessment of market conditions is echoed at the higher end of the market.

Savills, a specialist in the £1 million-plus property bracket, said last week that falling City bonuses would lead to house price falls in prime central London over the next six months.

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