BOE Leaders Say They Are Open to Possible 50-Year Mortgages

A cyclist on a Santander hire bicycle passes residential properties in Pimlico in London, UK, on Monday, June 20, 2022. The price of London's swankiest properties gained the most in more than seven-years last month as returning demand for city center homes tempt sellers to cash out. , Bloomberg

William Shaw and Marion Dakers, Bloomberg News

Jul 5, 2022

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(Bloomberg) --

Senior Bank of England officials said they are open to the possibility of mortgages lasting 40 or 50 years, an initiative that the UK government believes could help young people get onto the housing ladder.

BOE Governor Andrew Bailey said the central bank would “support and engage in any process that would envisage innovation in the market,” when asked about the proposals during a press conference on Tuesday. Sam Woods, head of the Prudential Regulation Authority, said markets outside the UK offer much longer fixed-rate mortgages and function “perfectly well.”

“If such a product came forward in the market we’d approach that with an open mind,” Woods said. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday the UK government is exploring plans to create mortgages that could be handed down from parents to children, potentially lasting about 50 years. Bloomberg previously reported the government is set to make long fixed-rate mortgages a key proposal in a housing review this autumn. 

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