FLS helping mortgage market more than small firms, says expert

The Bank of England's Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) is helping the mortgage market more than it does small firms, according to one expert.

John Walker, the National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, says that the evidence he has seen so far shows that homeowners are receiving better access to finance than enterprises.

However, his call for greater competition in the lending market could come in the shape of a Business Bank, something Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne unveiled in his Autumn Statement yesterday (December 5th).

The government will be providing it with £1 billion of extra capital in an attempt to improve private lending to smaller businesses over the coming years.

Enterprise owners are likely to welcome the news after research conducted by the Open University showed that 48 per cent of small and medium-sized firms expressed positive sentiments about a Business Bank.

Only 30 per cent said that they do not believe it will help the industry.

Posted by Thomas Fletcher

Date published 6 Dec 2012 | Last updated 6 Dec 2012