Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has confirmed that the Funding for Lending scheme will be taken away from household borrowing and re-focused on businesses.

A surging property market has meant that households no longer need added support for mortgages, it was claimed.

Instead the Funding for Lending scheme will go towards helping to support small firms.

The scheme has been designed to provide banks and building societies with cheap finance in order to encourage more loans.

Mr Carney said that he was re-focusing the financial support to make sure that the “evolution” of the housing market is as “constructive” as possible.

"Over the past year the Funding for Lending Scheme has contributed to the recovery by helping to significantly improve credit conditions, especially for households,” he said.

"The changes announced today refocus the Funding for Lending scheme where it is most needed – to underpin the supply of credit to small businesses over the next year – without providing further broad support to household lending that is no longer needed."

The Government made some £60 billion available to banks and building societies through the Funding for Lending scheme.

The change in direction has been welcomed by the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) who said that it reflected the "improvement in funding market conditions".

"Although the changes to the FLS may be a surprise, they are not a shock. Mortgage lenders are well equipped to meet their funding needs, as wholesale funding market conditions have improved and retail deposits are robust," Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said.

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