David Pretty, chairman of the New Homes Marketing Board (NHMB), has repeated his call for the government to establish a national home deposit savings scheme for first time buyers, after chancellor Alistair Darling failed to respond to his plea. January’s trading updates from listed housebuilders made for grim reading with warnings of profit drops and likely further writedowns with no improvement yet in sight. Over the year ending 31 December 2008, Persimmon’s legal completions dropped by a third, with turnover plummeting 40%. <br><br>The company statement said: “Until there is an improvement in the restricted credit conditions currently experienced we will continue to focus on conserving cash.” Meanwhile, both Barratt and Redrow warned that its margins for the year ending 2008 would be lower than expected. Redrow anticipated a 5% margin drop when it reported its full-year results in February, and as a consequence would be reviewing the value of its land and work in progress. Barratt stated that in the first half of last year it had concentrated on reducing stock levels, abandoning slow moving sites and managing its balance sheet in order to generate cash: “As a result, and despite additional cost savings, operating margins are expected to be …