Crisis hits Shrewsbury-based Galliers Homes

The continuing crisis in Britain's housing market has led to a Shropshire housebuilder laying off staff and putting an 18-month halt on all new developments, it emerged this afternoon.

Shrewsbury-based Galliers Homes has effectively mothballed its housebuilding arm as it struggles to sell properties it is building.

Company chairman Graham Galliers said: "Basically the industry is not doing well, and we can't make a profit at the moment.

"It's hard for people to get a mortgage up here, and we have come to the conclusion that we are effectively banging our heads against a wall by carrying on building houses that are difficult to sell."

The company will continue to sell its existing stock and will continue to acquire land with a view to building further developments in the future.

A handful of the company's remaining staff are now serving notices of redundancy, taking to 12 the number of redundancies made in the last year. And subcontractors who have worked with the firm, which is based in Longden Coleham, have been told they cannot expect to be involved in any more projects for at least 18 months.

The company, founded in 1987, now has a skeleton staff of about seven to carry on selling its existing stock and acquiring land for future projects.

Mr Galliers said the company had a commercial property arm which was thriving, but which had been propping up the housing arm during the crisis.

He added: "We intend to go back to building and would like to think that some of the land we have been negotiating for we will still get, as we want it for when the upturn comes.

"At the moment, if you build 10 houses you only sell four of them. Delayed sales cost money, and we have done the sensible thing and said 'what's the point of carrying on with it?' We certainly don't intend to shut it down."

The company has vowed not to leave any houses half-finished.