13
Aug
Darling 'in new mortgages plan'
Chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling is planning to revive
the mortgages market with an extension of the Bank of England's
special liquidity scheme, it has been reported.
Mr Darling's plan involves allowing mortgage-backed securities
issued since the existing December 2007 cut-off period to be made
available to provide security for lenders, the Times reports.
In addition to this, the chancellor is said to be considering a
plan for the government itself to issue mortgage-backed
securities.
The paper suggests that the two ideas - both mentioned in the
interim Crosby report as possible ideas but ones not without flaws
- may be opposed by the Bank of England.
Last week Mr Darling told the BBC he was considering various
possible measures to boost the property market, which has led to
criticism that he has created confusion by neither confirming nor
denying that stamp duty may be relaxed.
Yesterday the chief executive of the National Association of Estate
Agents (NAEA), Peter Bolton King, suggested the government should
curtail this uncertainty quickly to maintain a "levelling out" in
the market indicated by NAEA and Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors figures this week.
