(Reuters) - Britain's Barratt Developments Plc said on Wednesday it would build fewer homes in 2023 fiscal than the year earlier and flagged uncertainty in the market, as higher mortgage rates amid a cost-of-living crisis drive homebuyers away.

Barratt also appointed Caroline Silver as chair designate from June 1, succeeding John Allan as non-executive chair on Sept. 6.

The UK housing market has slowed in recent months, hit by a sharp rise in mortgage rates and reduced availability of loans, while expectations of further rate hikes this year and uncertainties about the extent of impact of raging inflation on households have added further pressure on the sector.

The FTSE 100 firm, which in October had warned on profit in the wake of weakening demand, said its order book - a key measure in gauging sales performance in the short-term - stood at 2.54 billion pounds ($3.09 billion) as of Dec. 31, compared with 3.79 billion pounds a year earlier.

The UK's largest housebuilder said net bookings rate per average week fell to 0.30 during the period from Oct. 10 to December-end, compared with 0.69 during the corresponding period a year earlier, while sales rate dropped to 0.44 homes per active outlet per week from 0.79 year ago. ($1 = 0.8220 pounds)

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)