14Oct
RICS hopeful over mortgage lending
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has said it
believes there is a good chance that the £37 billion banking
bailout announced yesterday will help improve the availability of
mortgage finance.
Figures from the body for September showed a further drop in
transactions to less than one per surveyor per week, something RICS
attributed to a lack of mortgage finance.
However, said spokesman Jeremy Leaf, all this could be about to
change.
He stated that the plans by the government to prompt the banks it
is helping to lend more "raises the possibility that the lack of
mortgage finance that has so damaged the housing market might be
eased".
RICS was able to report good news on the new buyer enquiries front,
with the total of these at its highest level for 16 months.
Yesterday the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) had questioned the
apparent statement by the Treasury that it was looking to restore
mortgage lending to 2007 levels, arguing this may not be "prudent
or desirable", but later said it had received clarification that
any rise would be in line with CML expectations.
