Darling promises to boost mortgage prospectsDarling promises to boost mortgage prospects
Chancellor Alistair Darling has promised to continue to look into what the government can do to help people who are suffering from conditions in the mortgage market.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live that he is "acutely aware" of the difficulties that many people are facing in relation to the restricted availability of mortgages and the fact that the cost of living has gone up.
The credit crunch, which started in the US last summer, has now affected every country in the world, with the UK's banking sector particularly affected, he explained.
"We will continue to see what we can do [to help]," he said. "We will take action, we have taken action – it will take some time to work its way through."
His comments came after a Bank of England survey of lenders found that the availability of mortgages is likely to decline over the next few months.