Builder Persimmon to slow pace of land-buying after Brexit vote

(Recasts, adds CEO quotes, house price data)

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Britain's second-biggest housebuilder Persimmon (Frankfurt: 882058 - news) said it will slow the pace of new land purchases due to the uncertainty likely next year as Britain starts divorce talks with the EU, despite sales rising almost a fifth since the Brexit vote.

A number of housebuilders reported an immediate dip in demand after the June 23 referendum but several, including Britain's largest builder Barratt, have reported strong demand in recent weeks.

Persimmon said sales were up 19 percent since July and the total value of reserved homes for sale rose 4 percent to 757 million pounds ($926.57 million), but it added that it would take a more cautious approach to purchasing land.

"We will probably replace the land that we've utilised this year... so not quite as strong as we've done in the last few years where we've been replacing at 150 to 200 percent," Chief (Taiwan OTC: 3345.TWO - news) Executive Jeff Fairburn told Reuters.

"During the course of next year as we go through the process of leaving the EU, there is a bit more uncertainty so we're just being a little more cautious in terms of our land-purchasing activities at that time."

It can take years from a plot of land being earmarked for purchase by a housebuilder to a new home being completed, due to planning permission and build time, meaning that any continued slowdown would take a while to affect the number of completions.

But in a new sign that the housing market may be cooling after the Brexit vote, data from mortgage lender Nationwide released on Wednesday showed that after months of monthly house price rises, prices were unchanged in October. ($1 = 0.8170 pounds) (Reporting by Costas Pitas, editing by Louise Heavens)