At this morning’s Mortgage Business Expo, AMI director, Robert Sinclair, told brokers that AMI was “sitting behind the CML on their feedback to the FSA on MMR”.
He said: “It’s right that the lenders have their say. If they can’t have their say on this, there isn’t a business for intermediaries. They need to be able to say what they think with our support.”
The deadline for submissions to the FSA is next Tuesday 16th November, when AMI will officially release its own feedback to the regulator.
However, Sinclair gave some early indications that AMI would say that discretionary expenditure shouldn’t be part of the affordability calculation under new regulation.
He also said: “I think it’s clear that we will argue against a 25 year period on all mortgages – having such a fixed term for the calculation presents an anachronism for retired borrowers.”
He added that ongoing discussions in Europe suggested that the market could expect some clarification on mortgage policy at a European level early next year.
“There is one part of the regulatory landscape left uncovered by Europe so far,” he said. “I predict early next year we’ll see a paper on mortgages out of Europe and this may supersede anything that comes out of the FSA.”
