Mortgage lender halts business

A mortgage lender has announced that it is to cease business from this Friday.

Rooftop Mortgages, a London-based subsidiary of struggling American firm Bear Stearns, has revealed it will close to new business with the loss of 24 jobs due to the impact of the credit crunch.

The lender, which specialises in the subprime market, blamed the "deterioration" in the securitisation markets and the absence of any imminent signs of recovery in them for the decision, Citywire reports.

Chief executive Ginny Darrow said that because of this "Rooftop's origination [lending] business has become unsustainable".

The move may be considered a further blow to the UK mortgage market, which has seen the number of available products for would-be homeowners declining in number in recent months.

Such a trend may prompt more people to consider the alternative method of self build to get on the property ladder.

The extent of the liquidity crisis is an issue which prime minister Gordon Brown has been discussing with US banking leaders on Wall Street during his visit to the United States.


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