Instant Access Properties

Amid the news of the new stamp duty concessions for joint owners of property and an absence of any change in thresholds for the tax, it might be easy to overlook some of the other property-related issues in the budget.

For those buying property, be it for buy-to-let purposes or as a home, the commitment is usually a long-term one. So much so, Mr Darling has reasoned, that it would be better for stability - a word he used in the first two sentences of his speech - if more people took out long-term fixed-rate mortgages. His rationale for this is that it is a much more common practice in other European countries such as Denmark and they would give householders greater long-term protection against market fluctuations.

He said: "These protect borrowers from risks and still allow them flexibility to move, or get a new mortgage if rates go down.

"Today, however, most people in the UK have short-term fixed-rate mortgages for two or three years, leaving them exposed to interest rate rises when their mortgage deal ends."

The chancellor's plan - establishing a panel to try to find ways to attract more people to take such deals out - has drawn a somewhat mixed response.

One of the few institutions which offers 25-year mortgages is the Co-operative Bank. Head of mortgages John Harker commented: "We believe that longer term fixed-rate mortgages are an initiative that should be encouraged and we have found that they can offer a real sense of security to those customers who want to know exactly what their repayments will be each month."

A somewhat contrasting view came from Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, head of mortgages at Abbey. She said: "We need to be realistic about the demand for these types of deal. While it may be true that the market could benefit from a slightly longer-term outlook than its current two-year cycles, our customer insight tells us that 25 years is too long for most people to fix into a mortgage."

In between these was the view of the British Building Societies Association, which stated that the long-term mortgages were a good idea but accepted that there was a long way to go to persuade householders of this.

Without demand for such products, all the initiatives in the world may be fruitless. If Mr Darling's plan succeeds, it could have a major impact on the property market, not least if a populace which embraces such products can use these as the basis of a more stable way of managing their household finances, the result of which may be a reduction in repossessions. However, that may depend on changes in other household financial habits, such as the well-documented British habit of spending far more on credit than other Europeans.

Long-term mortgages may be Mr Darling's big idea, but it could take a long-term commitment to achieve the widespread acceptance of them.