Matt Smith, senior policy adviser at the CML, said he hoped the two trade bodies would put aside past differences to achieve the best possible outcome for the UK mortgage market overall.
Smith said: “The key message is we’re trying to work on this together. It’s not a CML or AMI issue, it’s a UK market issue. We’re trying as best we can to join up on these issues while also addressing the needs of our own constituents.”
And AMI director Robert Sinclair added: “I agree. We’re trying to work out all the things we can agree on rather than the things we disagree on for a change. We’ve been trying to do this for over a year now and are getting more successful at it.”
Following the Commission’s draft directive on credit agreements relating to residential property industry experts have expressed worry that the proposals would harm the UK’s mortgage market.
While both trade bodies have yet to disclose exactly how they plan to lobby in Europe Smith said there would definitely be discussions covering issues of creditworthiness, the European Standardised Information Sheet, as well as “trying to understand what the Commission means by advice”.
Sinclair added that the scope of the draft directive would also be a topic of discussion and raised potential issues about whether residential buy-to-let, bridging and lending to high net worth borrowers for tax mitigation purposes should be captured by the European regulation in the UK market.
Smith said: “There will be elements that AMI will be championing more than the CML will but equally we will support AMI so far as we can to ensure the UK is represented as best as possible with a single voice.
“We intend to work with the FSA, Treasury and consumer groups as well to try to achieve that. It’s as holistic as we can make it.”
Andrew Montlake, communications director at London-based broker Coreco, said: “It’s great to hear that the CML and AMI are working together on this. That’s really important and is exactly what we would want from our trade body.”
