A recent survey of businesses carried out by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales has found that, in general, the availability of finance for business from banks and other providers of external finance has eased slightly but is still difficult. The proportion of borrowers that were able to renew their existing bank facilities has remained static.

However, the easing has come at a cost, the report noting that ‘there is still a significant proportion of businesses this year whose costs have gone up when they renewed their facility’.

In addition, for businesses in the property sector, 30 per cent reported that their borrowing terms were made more stringent.

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