LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The head of the U.K. Council for Mortgage Lenders met Thursday with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and urged the government to move quickly to implement measures to help the mortgage market.
A spokeswoman for the CML said the Crosby review of mortgage financing was discussed, including the report's recommendation that the government offer guarantees for up to GBP100 billion in mortgage-backed securities to help revive lending.
"We reiterated our support for an early implementation as soon as the government is able to do it," said CML spokeswoman Sue Anderson.
CML Director General Michael Coogan was one of a number of representatives of the housing and construction sectors at the breakfast meeting with Brown. Housing Minister Margaret Beckett and Ian Pearson, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, also attended.
In his report Monday, which was published alongside the government's pre-budget statement, former HBOS Chairman James Crosby warned that without government action, the MBS market wouldn't return to business "any time soon." By stepping in, the government could avoid "protracted" house falls, he added.
The government said it would work on detailed plans based on the review but the treasury indicated that any response would be made in the budget of spring next year.
The Crosby review was called in April and the mortgage industry had hoped the government would announce measures to help the sector by this week's pre-budget report at the latest.
-By Laurence Norman, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-207-842-9270; laurence.norman@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 27, 2008 08:44 ET (13:44 GMT)

Publié le 27 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones