Mortgage market 'needs cash'
Updated on 25 November 2008
The number of new mortgages approved has fallen by more than 50 per cent over the last 12 months.
And the man advising the government on reviving the mortage market has warned that lending could fall below zero next year.
That would mean that the amount of cash repaid by mortgage holders would outstrip the entire amount of new loans issued by banks.
Now Sir James Crosby, the former head of HBOS, has called on ministers to underwrite mortgage-backed securities in a bid to clear the loans logjam.
