New housing measures welcomed - buy to let mortgages

03 September 2008

The housing market reforms announced by the government - which could help those with buy to let mortgages - have been welcomed.

Michael Coogan, the director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders, claimed that the measures were positive, yet more funding is still needed.

"There are no easy solutions to some of these problems. But we welcome the announcement of reforms to income support for mortgage interest (ISMI) next spring," he commented.

New claims under the ISMI system will have their waiting time slashed from 39 weeks to 13 weeks. The upper limit of eligible mortgages has also been raised to £175,000.

This "will make it much easier for lenders to exercise forbearance until benefit payments begin", Mr Coogan added.

However, the Royal Institution for Chartered Surveyors has stated that the introductions will not affect nine out of ten transactions, particularly in London where an average fist time buyer pays about £260,000 for a property.