The lender has just launched its new Affordability Declaration to support self certification applications and is the only lender so far to react to the threat posed to this sector of market by the latest mortgage regulation proposals.
Peter Beaumont, Sales and Marketing Director at Mortgages plc, is surprised at the lack of action of other lenders: “Affordability is becoming an increasingly important issue in the market, and in the last week alone concern has been expressed in the mortgage press by the FSA, Bank of England, and Consumer’s Association about borrowers over-stretching themselves. Also, the national newspapers have written about the issue of affordability in depth recently. Mortgages plc has put forward a potential solution to these concerns, and one that specifically addresses the FSA’s thoughts as outlined in CP186. I am amazed that no other lender has acted yet on this key issue.”
Beaumont adds that Mortgages plc would welcome the opportunity to meet with any industry or consumer organisations to help develop their Affordability Declaration: “We have presented our thoughts to the FSA and would be delighted to meet with the Consumer’s Association or any other interested parties to discuss our ideas on tackling affordability. We are an open-minded and forward-thinking organisation and are not naive enough to think that we have come up with the final solution first time. This is a process of evolution.”
