Following the launch of the unprecedented £50 billion scheme to bail out Britain’s ailing banking system and help to ease the tightening mortgage market, the question on everybody’s lips is, “What will the rescue package mean for ordinary households?”

The Bank of England is offering to take £50bn in residential mortgages off lenders hands, in exchange for gold plated government bonds. These taxpayer backed loans are considered a far safer investment than a residential home loan and the scheme will hopefully start loosen the lending criteria that are currently hampering the mortgage market.

2009 has been described by many to be the year of the bargain for buyers. According to Britain’s biggest property website, Rightmove, properties are already being sold at around 25 per cent below their peak value while the number of forced sellers is increasing. Quality properties in desirable locations always bounce back first when a recovery happens, and a depressed market is an opportunity to secure a home that would normally be out of budget. But, they are only a bargain if buyers can get credit.

Michael Fiddes, Strutt & Parker’s Mayfair office comments: “2009 has a lot of potential for improvement in the property market, but this very much depends on the availability of credit to would be buyers. The whole focus of the government’s current efforts is to increase this availability so the outlook is positive.

Fiddes continues: “It is too early to say how successful these measures will be, but in parallel with the ever decreasing interest rates, there is every prospect that they will lead to house buyers having increased access to funding as the year goes on.”

The £50bn for banks hit by the credit crunch is hoped by many to be a positive step forward in helping businesses, individuals and, in particular, the mortgage market.”