The survey was revealed at a debate on financial responsibility in the House of Commons, and was chaired by Labour MP, Andy Love. It showed nine in 10 felt the KFI was a helpful document and, of the 1,007 mortgage holders questioned, 98 per cent said their lender’s decision was responsible, while 49 per cent felt that responsibility was equally shared between themselves and the lender.
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It was also shown that 56 per cent of people said they could afford between 20 and 39 per cent of their household income to meet mortgage repayments.
Stephen King, executive chairman of GMAC-RFC, said: “We, along with many other lenders, had criticised the regulator’s prescriptive KFI as being too long for the customer to understand. We said that nobody would read it. Wrong. Sometimes we super-impose our instincts onto consumers, stating that this is how they must, or do feel. But some preconceptions were challenged by the research.”
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Love added that the balance of responsibility between an individual and lender was important.
“If we are moving into an area of greater turbulence with the possibility of two or three more rate rises, then it is incumbent upon all of us to reassure ourselves that we can deal with that effectively.”
