If Darling is thinking of kick starting an already grossly over inflated housing sector and prolonging our agony still further then the asylum really is being run by lunatics.

philip, Ipswich,

I somehow doubt this will happen. And even if it did, would it have the desired effect?

Mark, Bradford,

The scheme proposed by the Government is equivalent to printing money and in that way diluting the currency.
Of course they know better than the Bank of England. I have never seen such bad news rain in on a Government.
The Labout conference will be nothing short of a farce

Vernon Cooper, Somerset, UK

another sub-prime strategy from the sub-prime minds of our sub-prime government.

jean-marc, milton keynes, uk

I've always been a Labour supporter, but if they throw anymore Taxpayers money away trying to support the housing price bubble, then i will be forced to withdraw all support, as they will have proved complete economic incompetance.

Steve, Coventry,

Banks lending stupid amounts of money to people that wanted to buy houses was the cause of the bubble that has just burst. With inflation now even by official figures running unchecked rates need to rise and the housing market needs to correct, as it will despite HMG`s incompetent meddling.

john buck, weybridge, england

I hate this government!

Caroline, London,

I wonder what financial irresponsibility they are dreaming up now.

SRB, Abergele, UK

What a disgrace. The government that presided over the now-bursting housing bubble are desperately trying to keep it inflated.

The only way to restore sanity and sustainability to the housing market it to let prices fall to affordable levels, not to use tax payers money to prop them up...

cp, London, UK

Fools if they don't know that capital raised by such bond swaps is "fungible" - an accounting terms that means banks can use the capital for whatever they want (like rebuilding their balance sheets, boosting executive bonuses and increasing dividends) not for lending to a falling property market.

Huw Sayer, London, UK

David Barratt's right. There's no point taking these measures until the fundamental problems have been solved. There's no legislation yet to prevent another Northern Rock situation and
nothing to prevent the irresponsible lending. The US are legislating to ensure customers incomes are confirmed.

Keith Butler, Loughborough,

Not often you see someone hopelessly out of their depth in a drought .

Benzo, Nr Chelmsford,

Minister Darling would be well advised to keep out of trying to resurrect the Mortgage/Housing Market, at the taxpayers expense. He, and his Cabinet coleagues have no experience whatever in this field!

Alan Harvey, Fleet, UK

Brown wants it both ways.Stamp duty plus a kickstart of the market.. The old cry of "nationalising losses and privatising profits"
He needs to address the increase in water charges, but of course this won't concern the Cabinet who have taken an inflation busting rise of £6000 a year.

Vernon Cooper, Somerset, UK

Darling is a financial illiterate. The banks have already taken advantage of the current scheme to swap mortgage backed securities for treasury bonds and boosted the quality of their balance sheets, but there has been no loosening in lending criteria. An extension will result in more of the same.

Andrew Barnes, London, uk

When will the Government (and some of the people) wake up and realise that the UK property bubble has burst. Like all pyramid schemes, once people stopped buying in at the bottom it was doomed to fail. The years of fantasy prices based on loans conjured out of thin air are over.

Austin Allegro, London, UK

OMG this is stupidity. Why bother to save the housing market. Your doing plenty by not increasing interest rates. Leave it as it is and it will correct itself.

Sunny Patel, Coventry,

don't laugh when we get a complete volte face and hear that a stamp duty holiday is to be introduced after all

peter c, devizes, wessex

Help my used car lot is having trouble selling cars, can i have afew million pounds ? No ? then i think its time to visit the EU courts

Gavin, London, GB

The Government are obviously determined to keep the price of shelter as high as possible.

Imagine the uproar if they announce that they were going to prop up petrol or food prices as they wish to do with house prices.

When will the public realise the idiocy of this policy?

Tim, Oxford,

Houses will sell when the prices reduce to make them affordable. The bubble is about to burst, everyone knows it. A modest detached in Leeds costs a quarter of a million and most families cant afford that. HMG should get real and stop trying to reinflate an overpriced market its not their job!

Paul, Leeds, West Yorkshire

So more of our money going to the banks, who are the biggest thieves in the business!
This whole situation of with the credit crunch should allow governments to step in a produce absolute rules which banks have to abide by, create control whilst they are weakened.

Pete, St Albans, England

the greatest boon that this govt could do with regards to houses and housing in general would be a relaxation of the country's draconion planning laws. they distort the supply of land and that then inflates the ground all new housing stock is built.

mustaffa, eastwood notts,

Alan of Oxford - the politicans and experts aren't dim. They are merely pursuing their narrow self-interests. The politicians are blatantly trying to buy votes. The experts all have their own pockets to line. They are all trying very hard to return to their golden era of easy votes and easy living.

Tim, London, UK

Ok, if the government is going to help the housing market with our tax money, then build more affordable rental property instead. Stop tax relief on buy to let mortgages, tax the profit that is made when selling houses, bring back tax relief on mortgages on the value of the loan.

peter, stockholm, sweden

I hope there is a continuing downward correction to the over inflated house prices.
If Banks and Building Societies hadn't been so stupid allowing people to borrow 7 times annual salary this situation would not have arisen.
2.5 Times Annual Salary plus a deposit should be the norm.

Stephen Holmes, Withington, UK

What about allowing low earners/first timers to pay the stamp duty in their income tax? They would pay this back over a five year period as percentage of their income but interest free. This would be five years of work. This might be a fair helper without messing with the market place.

Jonathan Foreman, London,

It's all very well trying to get the housing market going, but if there was some proper regulation on reasonable lending multipliers (of borrower's annual income) then prices could not follow an unreasonable spiral upwards.......if we don't do this prices will continue where they left off.

David Barratt, Exmouth, Devon

Taxpayers money being used to prop up Brown & Co.
what logic can ther be in providing etra funding, thereby increasing the price, of an assett most can no longer affford .
That it might kickstart the wider market is doomed to failure due to wider economic issues. but then this govt. is doomed also

mike cassidy, gloucester, england

Mr Brown & Darling should consider local small scale initiatives to sitimulate local ecomonies such as seeking dormant Windfall Sites for new housing. Most of these Windfall Site are resisted vigorously by L Authorities - LAs only wanted larger developments - but these would be local 'Tick Overs'.

john, colchester, uk

Did not Mr Brown raise stamp duty to cool the housing market should not Mr Draling lower the stamp duty to warm the market.

Terry, London, UK

We have an economy that depends on house prices and people buying/selling houses to keep it afloat, time to restructure and get manufacturing back on its feet. Mrs Thatcher started the rot in manufacturing and New Labour continued it. You cannot run a country based on house prices.

Trigger, Peterborough, UK

If the risk stays with the Bank it won't increase lending.
If the risk moves to the taxpayer it will be hideously inflationary.

Houses are too expensive - let them fall.
The UK is over borrowed - encourage saving.
Nulabour are bankrupting the UK, VOTE THEM OUT!

Pat, By the Sea, New Zealand

Until the £50bn current account deficit gets back into balance the pound will be hammered for any extension of borrowing.
There are simple choices:-

Lower public spending
Raise interest rates
Cut consumer consumption
Increase exports

Lowering public spending is the wise option!!

Steve Marchant, Newton Abbot, UK

The best way of getting money back into the 'system' is for the banks and building societies to offer more attractive savings rates. As others have commented, lending will only ease when house prices return to sensible levels.

Paul, Coventry,

There is no drought if the LTV is risk free! The lending has been pulled because prices are in a bubble and everyone knows it. Prices need to correct and lending regulated from then on.

Richard, Guildford, Surrey

Brown was happy for houses to rise 3 times or more in value, so equally brown should allow houses to fall as banks currently don't want to lend money to people to buy inflated property that are falling in value.

Any scheme to prop up the market will be short term and cost everyone in the longterm.

roger, london,

Darling is going to waste NR style billions more of taxpayers' money to support Banks and Bulding Societies who have been profligate.They are being rewarded for their incontinence with shareholders' money and now with MY money.
This is aimed merely at the next general election. It's over Darling !

Mike, Leatherhead, England

Is there a chance that any further help to banks to do their job will be dependent on their actually lending to first time buyers, and not to those who seek merely to extend their period of low interest? Bank mortgages should be about helping to extend ownership.

david, london,

Have to agree with the people that say house prices need to drop to 3-4 times proven salaries, from the 7 times fantasy self-certified salaries of the recent past.

The banks know this and its why they are being more 'prudent' in their lending. Its what they should have been doing all along.

David Franks, Chonburi, Thailand

If the property market crashes only the Buy To Let landlords will benefit. Britain will once again become a nation of landed gentry and renters. First time buyers with lower deposits are out and banks will lend to the wealthy landlords. Parents lacking equity will not be able to help their kids!!!

Micad, London, UK

Absolutely superb. If Darling expands available mortgages by intervention, he will cause a collapse in the value of Sterling. If he doesn't house prices will collapse at a rate unprecedented in history. Temporarily suspending stamp duty is another genius idea - future personal debt, less credit!

Steve, Bath,

Bank loans were unsustainable, we will never see 125% or even 100% loans again for years.

The cost of living is increasing in the 10's of %.

House prices have only one way to go - 3 to 3.5 times average earnings if you're lucky.

Eddy, midlands,

John Fleet UK. No house prices will not drop. The country is mired in debt and unless 100% mortgages become the norm again house prices will continue to fall as buyers cannot raise deposits. Besides, we need a return to lending 3x salary so young people can buy. This government is desperate! lolol

sophie smith, london, uk

I hope the BOE blocks this gamble and lets the market correct itself. State backed mortgages have caused recklessness in the US market. House prices need to fall, and the faster the better. We're attempting to re-inflate the bubble only to have it pop later and larger, after an election perhaps.

Phil, Welwyn, UK

Why should the taxpayer underwrite mortgages in order to prop up a grossly overinflated property market?
I thought that we were supposedly living in a free market based economy.
This is an absolute disgrace.

Allan, Inverness,

Market suspended to wait and see? So clearly nothing to do with affordability?

And this was clearly leaked too!, house builders share prices in the last 2 days! Someone knew this was coming, except the tax payer.

Yoss, London, England

Jon, Fleet,

Nope. The market has been suspended because the banks have finally woken up to the fact that housing is massively over-priced and that their customers don't have the income to pay back the loans. I say 'woke up' but they knew that already but ignored it.

Like the FSA and Number 11.

John, West Chiltington, UK

God these politicians and 'experts' are dim. The mortgage market ballooned when the fad for interest only mortgages, 2/3 year discounted fixed rates, buy to let and being a rate tart became a national pastime. Now that is no longer economically viable the market must contract.

Alan, Oxford,

We need to face as a nation that home ownership is not the ideal route for everyone. A stable quality rented sector better suits low income ,periodic employment and mobile workers. The tight market lending only to those who are credit worthy is how it should be.Leave it alone Darling.

andy hill, teesside,

Good. the market has been suspended due to everyone taking the wait and see attitude, the only people moving are the three d's, death, divorce and debt, once the banks start lending again the people that just want to move rather than have to will be back and the drop in values will stop.

Jon, Fleet, UK

How then do ministers explain the fact that existing housing chains have stagnated, waiting for news on the possible stamp duty changes?? This has nothing to do with possible house price falls and everything to do with a possible saving of the cost of stamp duty on their imminent purchase....

J Hawkins, SUDBURY, UK