In a speech at the Consumer Credit Association’s Annual Convention at the Bristol Royal Marriott Hotel, Hurlston called for the institution of specific supervision by the FSA of all first mortgages and home ownership certificates for anybody buying a first house. He said that pre-mortgage counselling had already been launched in the United States by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and that the UK should follow its lead.
He said that those most likely to have a debt problem in Britain are those on low incomes who have wrongly, or too soon, embarked on home ownership.
“The lesson has decidedly not been learned,” he said. “Help for first-time buyers features again in party manifestos. Home ownership is a lifestyle choice, no longer a right or a political good. For many it is a trap.
“First time mortgages should be sold not with pretty ribbons and tax breaks but with health warnings. They should be sold like driving licences, after study and an exam.
“So I call today on all the political parties to get real about home ownership, to institute specific supervision by the FSA of all first mortgages and to insist on home ownership certificates for anybody buying a first house. Pre-mortgage counselling has already made a start in the US thanks to the federal department of Housing and Urban Development, CCCSs provide training there – let us bite the bullet and do it here.
“We certainly stand ready to help whatever government there might be.”
