JC Flowers backs new mortgage firm

PRIVATE equity major JC Flowers has disclosed it is backing a new mortgage business to be chaired by Sir Callum McCarthy, former chairman of the Financial Services Authority.

Castle Trust says it aims to breathe life into the UK housing market by offering "investments to retail and institutional investors providing access to UK house price returns, and mortgages that improve affordability". The principle, says JC Flowers, is for savers frustrated by low interest rates to bankroll first-time buyers.