Mortgage providers yesterday cautioned that Gordon Brown's proposals for long-term, fixed-rate mortgages could meet a cool reception from consumers as the Prime Minister announced what could potentially be the biggest shake-up in the mortgage market in decades, The Independent reports.
Brown and Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, yesterday unveiled proposals to boost the popularity of long-term, fixed-rate mortgages, which are rare in Britain but commonplace in the US and parts of Europe. The aim is to make the housing market less vulnerable to interest rate swings and to make housing more affordable. The Chancellor, who highlighted the approaching problem of "rate shock" for millions of borrowers whose cheap, fixed-rate deals were entered into two years ago and are due to expire shortly, will report by the Budget, next spring, on the proposals. HIGHER INTEREST RATES si...
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