Treasury announcement hailed - commercial mortgages

17 December 2008

A government announcement that will allow lenders to gain wider access to financial guarantees and market funding has been hailed.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has welcomed the Treasury's recent changes to the credit guarantee scheme, which will make it cheaper for banks and building societies to apply for government-sponsored guarantees and in turn, wider funding from the marketplace.

Director general Michael Coogan said that ministers are now "hearing the message that lenders cannot realistically deliver all that is expected of them" under the current market conditions.

He added that chancellor Alistair Darling was right to say that there is more that the government can do to "facilitate more conducive conditions for lending".

Increased funding for banks and building societies could make commercial mortgages more readily available.

Meanwhile the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries has revealed that mortgage brokers are benefiting from increased access to the "best" products.