LONDON, June 23 Reuters British banks agreed on Friday to give homeowners who miss mortgage payments a year of grace before foreclosing and to protect credit scores of borrowers who change loan terms, as the government sought to ease the strain of rising interest rates.

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt summoned representatives of British banks and other lenders a day after the Bank of England BoE raised interest rates to 5.0 to fight high inflation.

These measures should offer comfort to those who are anxious about high interest rates and support for those who do get into difficulty, Hunt said in a statement.

The new measures also allow borrowers to potentially change the terms of a mortgage for example to pay only interest, or to extend the repayment period for up to six months without the lender undertaking fresh credit checks, in a move that could pose risks for banks in the longer run.

Such measures could be difficult to implement in practice, sources at the finance ministry and British banks said.

Some of the measures announced by the government on Friday appeared to replicate policies banks have already said they have in place.

The finance ministry statement said the newly agreed mortgage charter with banks requires that they provide information to customers whose rates are near to ending, and offer tailored support to people struggling with repayments.

Big British banks have told customers and lawmakers repeatedly in recent months that such support exists,…