Hammond confirms end to support for high loan-to-value mortgages

LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Thursday he planned to close a government-backed mortgage guarantee scheme, part of its Help to Buy housing programme, at the end of 2016 as previously scheduled. Hammond, in a letter to Bank of England Governor Mark Carney which was published on the government's website, said the high loan-to-value mortgage market had become less reliant on the scheme while the government remained committed to the overall Help to Buy programme and other supports for the housing market. The government of former prime minister David Cameron launched the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme in late 2013 to help home-buyers who could afford mortgage repayments but lacked a large deposit. (Reporting by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken)