Britain too dependent on large housing developers - housing minister Barwell

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's housing market is too dependent on large homebuilders, housing minister Gavin Barwell said on Sunday, speaking ahead of the launch of the government's latest attempt to fix a chronic shortage of new homes.

The government has previously said it wanted to build a million homes between 2015 and 2020 but, even with plans to incentivise developers and build 17 new towns and villages, it is behind schedule.

It will publish details of a new strategy, billed as a major shake-up of the planning and construction system, on Tuesday.

"We desperately need more homes and we’re too dependent at the moment on a small number of large developers and we need to look at all the things that we can do to get more people involved in building new housing," Barwell told the BBC.

Last month, Briain's biggest housebuilder Barratt (BDEV.L) said it might build fewer homes in the current financial year and that high land prices have hit the number of properties completed in London.

Persimmon (PSN.L), the second largest, has said it would continue to buy land for future developments but uncertainty created by Britain's exit from the European Union might affect its decision making.

Bovis Homes has warned on profit because it failed to complete the number of homes it expected at the end of 2016.

(Reporting by William James; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)