Brown working towards making mortgages more easily available

Published: April 16, 2008

Gordon Brown wants to make it easier for people to get their hands on first-time buyer mortgages.

The prime minister told Channel Four News that he wants to see lenders handing out mortgages again.

He said that he understands some of the concerns of potential buyers in regards to housing but promised to make the public feel more "secure and confident" about the future of the economy.

"I hope to see banks issuing new mortgages to intending homeowners," Mr Brown said.

"One of the problems in the market at the moment is that people wanting to buy homes for the first time are finding it difficult to get mortgages.

"You have got to have liquidity in the marketplace and so the Bank of England has injected an extra £15 billion extra liquidity," he added.

Equifax recently expressed its opinion that borrowers will still be able to get their hands on first-time buyer mortgages because banks need to lend money in order to makemoney.