IL&P's UK mortgage subsidiary to lay off 50 staff

DUBLIN (Reuters) - CHL Mortgages, a UK subsidiary of Irish Life & Permanent, said on Thursday it would lay off about 50 of its 250 staff as it cuts back on mortgage lending this year.

"The move reflects the company's plans to slow mortgage growth in the current year (2008) while focusing on credit quality and margin enhancement," it said in a statement.

Earlier on Thursday, Britain's Council of Mortgage Lenders said the housing market had entered a substantially slower phase and there would be ongoing problems in mortgage funding markets unless the Bank of England improves liquidity.

Last week Irish Life & Permanent's bank permanent tsb said it would no longer offer 100 percent mortgages to home buyers due to a slowdown in Ireland's housing market.

(Reporting by Andras Gergely; editing by Rory Channing)