U.K. house builder Taylor Wimpey PLC (TW.LN) Friday announced that Chairman Norman Askew intends to stand down from the board by the end of December, 2010.

A search for a successor already has begun, the company said.

Askew, aged 67, was appointed chairman of Taylor Woodrow in July, 2003, and subsequently was named as chairman of Taylor Wimpey following the nil-premium merger with George Wimpey in July, 2007.

He has led the board through the post-merger integration process, the sale of the Taylor Woodrow Construction business and through the challenging market conditions that faced the industry during 2008 and 2009, culminating in the company's renegotiation of its financial covenants and the raising of GBP510 million via a placing and open offer in June, 2009.

At the same time, Taylor Wimpey announced the appointment of Robert (Rob) Rowley as an independent nonexecutive director with effect from Jan. 1. Rowley currently is a nonexecutive director at Liberty International PLC (LII.LN) and Moneysupermarket.com Group PLC (MONY.LN).

David Williams, currently a nonexecutive director, will stand down from the board March 31. Williams recently was appointed joint chairman of the Mondi Group and also is a nonexecutive director of Meggitt PLC (MGGT.LN), Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) and DP World Ltd. (DPW.DIF).

-By Jonathan Buck, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)207 842 8237; jonathan.buck@dowjones.com