Foreign banks 'may make mortgage market more competitive'

Posted: 29 Jul 2009 12:08:59 GMT

The provision of mortgages by foreign banks may make it cheaper to secure finance to purchase properties, it has been claimed.

According to Mark O'Sullivan, director of trading for Currencies Direct, Chinese, Israeli and Swedish banks are moving into the sector in a bid to pick up business from homebuyers in Britain.

He stated that these banks may offer the best mortgage deals to consumers, forcing a "complete change around" in lending conditions.

The expert said: "It might wake up the UK banks and make them more competitive than they are at the moment."

He went on to suggest that the country's mortgage market is currently controlled by the "big four" and, during the recession, the availability of products has been "absolutely decimated".

Recently, Paragon Mortgages released research which suggested that more than four in ten landlords (43 per cent) reported being constrained by a lack of mortgage finance.


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