The UK housing market has waited this long to recover so why are critics so quick to tear down the Funding for Lending (FfL) scheme set in place by the government?  The scheme was put in place to make funds available to lenders so that they could stay off of the global lending market which had become expensive and therefore pushed interest rates up.  Instead lenders could now borrow their funding from the government at cheaper interest rates and give the savings to borrowers by offering cheaper interest rates on mortgages, remortgages, and small business loans.

The FfL scheme went into effect in August and only three months out there are critics that are calling the whole idea a wash.  However, there are experts that believe the momentum, though small, will carry into the next year and the housing market will then see a real boost.  This time the boost is likely to stay rather than a one-time boost that cannot be replicated.  Only with a long standing boost in buyers and property purchases will the market actually see growth.

Confidence in the housing market and the economy as well as cheap interest rates should be enough to catch the eye of hopeful buyers.  The other need is for there to be attractive properties on the market with realistic asking prices that reflect the condition of today’s market.

Remortgage seekers have benefitted from the FfL scheme as well.  Lenders have been offering historically low interest rates near or below 3%.  Demand for remortgages has remained low but that too is expected to change as the New Year begins.