UK minister urges review of property purchase programme

[LONDON] The UK government should review its Help to Buy mortgage-guarantee programme in light of soaring home prices in London and the surrounding region, Business Secretary Vince Cable said.

"We certainly need to look at that again," Mr Cable, a member of the minority Liberal Democrats in David Cameron's Conservative-led coalition, told BBC television's "Andrew Marr Show" on Sunday. "It was conceived in very different circumstances."

A UK house-price index compiled by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) rose to the highest in more than a decade last month, aided by the Help to Buy programme, as supply failed to keep up with demand. RICS said last week that prices in London will rise 11 per cent next year, compared with 8 per cent nationally, as demand increases.