Darling focuses on unsettled mortgage market
Alistair Darling is set to discuss the burden on homeowners caused by the credit crunch with some of Britain’s biggest mortgage lenders today.
The chancellor will meet the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) over implementing some key strategies in order to help those most at risk of losing their homes in the financial squeeze.
The measures will include a brief ‘holiday’ from mortgage repayments for some borrowers who have been hit hardest.
In addition, several new mortgage offers could be arranged at the behest of the chancellor – including more flexible borrowing options in which homeowners can adjust their monthly payments to suit their needs.
And Mr Darling also wants lenders to look at ways of passing on recent interest rate savings to their customers.
Since November the Bank of England has cut interest rates by 0.75 per cent, although most of these cuts have been swallowed up by lenders seeking to cover losses incurred during the crunch.
“In the light of everything we are doing with [mortgage lenders], I want to discuss with them how they can pass on the benefits of falling interest rates as well as wider government support to mortgage holders,” Mr Darling told MPs.
The news follows an earlier announcement from Mr Darling in which he pledged £50 billion to bail out the country’s banking network, as it has also struggled to cope recently.
The Bank of England will swap government bonds for some of the banks and building societies’ more volatile mortgage-backed assets in a bid to stabilise the sector.
