Barratt chief calls for more lending from banks

The chief executive of Barratt Developments, Mark Clare has called for banks to increase their lending to help stimulate the depressed housing market. He said it was too early to say whether the government’s efforts to get lenders financing housing deals would feed through into the housing market in the next three to six months, but in a trading update today Barratt said it had noticed improved sentiment in the market, with visitors and reservation rates up in recent weeks.