Dutch Mortgage Guarantee Fund May Curb Eligibility, Dagblad Says

Dutch state guarantees on mortgages may be limited to first-time buyers and other borrowers who couldn’t purchase a home otherwise, Het Financieele Dagblad reported, citing the head of the fund that administers the plan.

Stricter conditions would cut reliance on state guarantees by half, Karel Schiffer said in an interview with the newspaper. The Dutch state backs loans worth almost 140 billion euros ($180 billion), or about 70 percent of the market for mortgages of as much as 350,000 euros, the program’s upper limit, Dagblad said.

The measures, which Schiffer said should be implemented over a three-year period, would require the approval of the Dutch cabinet and parliament, according to to the newspaper.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maud van Gaal in Amsterdam at mvangaal@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Frank Connelly at fconnelly@bloomberg.net