NOP World carried out the report, the most detailed of its kind to be published in Britain, with analysis by Professor Kevin Keasey, director of the International Institute of Banking and Financial Services at Leeds University Business School.
It revealed that over half of the 1,000 borrowers interviewed were willing to pay an extra 1 to 2 per cent on their loans because they could see the advantage that securing a mortgage brought.
51 per cent of respondents believed that non-conforming loans offered an opportunity to improve credit ratings over time while 42 per cent believed that the quality of their lives would be worse had they been unable to secure the loan.
The loans provided 27 per cent of respondents with the opportunity to move from rented accommodation while 19 per cent would have had to move in with family or friends had they been unable to secure the loan.
The survey has been made available to the entire non-conforming sector as well as MPs and the FSA.
Jeff Knight, head of marketing services at GMAC-RFC, denied that the report was aimed at pre-empting an expected FSA examination of the non-conforming sector.
Stephen Knight, executive chairman of GMAC-RFC, commented: “As the biggest lender of our type in the UK we felt that it was important to contribute to the public policy debate in each of the countries where we have presence.”
Julian Wells, head of marketing at Mortgages plc, welcomed the research findings.
He said: “It is refreshing to hear such a positive message from consumer research. All too often it is easier just to knock the non-conforming sector while ignoring the benefits it brings to many borrowers lives."
