A marathon round of negotiations and hard bargaining by Conservative MEPs has paid off when proposals which could have destroyed Britain’s popular buy-to-let mortgage market were finally seen off.

Malcolm Harbour, who represents the West Midlands for the Conservatives said: “Proposed new EU legislation could have shut key parts of the UK mortgage market such as buy-to-lets and bridge loans. We know there are still problems within the mortgage market but these should be dealt with by UK bodies not EU legislation.

“I’m delighted that the concerted effort by the Conservatives in the European Parliament has paid off and we’ve managed to stop unnecessary barriers to this important market as well as unnecessary red tape which would have only increased consumer costs.

“Harmonising the mortgage market doesn’t improve the functioning of the single market. Each country has such different property markets which should be respected.”