London — Homebuilders in Britain will cut tens of thousands of jobs as the $37 billion industry grapples with the worst housing slump in more than a decade, according to the chairman of the Home Builders Federation.

“There isn’t a builder in the land who isn’t considering overheads and job losses,” Stewart Baseley said in an interview yesterday. Job losses “will be in the tens of thousands,” he said. “I’ve never seen a downturn escalate as quickly as this.”

Taylor Wimpey Plc, Britain’s biggest homebuilder, may eliminate 600 jobs and Persimmon Plc, the second-largest, has postponed work on new developments after the seizure in global credit markets prompted lenders to withdraw some mortgages. House prices fell in April from a year earlier, the first annual decline since 1996, according to Nationwide Building Society. The industry employs about 300,000 people including subcontractors.

Homebuilding stocks have tumbled by more than 50% since spiraling subprime mortgage losses sparked a global tightening in credit markets. Both Taylor Wimpey and Bellway Plc were reduced to “sell” on May 16 by analysts at Goldman Sachs, which predicted more “negative news flow on credit availability, mortgage lending, home pricing, and trading” during the summer months. That followed a similar downgrade of Bovis Homes Group Plc at Merrill Lynch & Co.

Taylor Wimpey, based in London, declined 5.8% in the London yesterday. Bellway fell 3.9% to 645.5 pence.

The current housing slump is “unique,” because it’s been caused by fewer loan approvals rather than spiraling unemployment or inflated borrowing rates, Mr. Baseley said. The number of mortgages granted dropped to a record low in March, almost half the level of the previous year and the lowest since the Bankers Association started keeping records in 1997.

“The data is one way at the moment,” Mr. Baseley said.

The government should abolish the housing sales tax, known as stamp duty, for some first-time buyers or those limited to small deposits, he said.

Redrow Plc on May 13 said it has stepped up headcount reductions in the last few months and Barratt Developments Plc forecast a day later its number of new developments will decline. Taylor Wimpey may close one-third of its regional offices, according to a company official.

Overall, about 75,000 fewer workers will be needed in the industry, given homebuilders’ volumes are down about 25 percent, an analyst at Panmure Gordon & Co., Mark Hughes, said

Cuts to the workforce will hurt all regions of the country and will affect related industries too, from building-material suppliers to lawyers and removal men, Mr. Baseley said.

Wolseley Plc, the world’s biggest distributor of plumbing and heating equipment, has a hiring freeze in place after cutting 400 jobs in Britain during the second half of last year.