Major lenders shun mortgage support scheme - papers

After announcing in December the eight largest lenders covering 70% of the mortgage market would support the new scheme, the government was forced to admit Barclays, HSBC, Nationwide and Santander, which owns Abbey and Alliance & Leicester, would not be participating. It is believed some of the lenders became concerned after receiving calls from customers in December, when the scheme was first announced, demanding to be given a two-year payment holiday. There are also fears the scheme will weaken lenders' capital cushions because of the way participating customers will be treated for acco...