Mortgage Mutterings - Have your say

This is the first in Mortgage Solutions weekly talk back page. Each week, we'll pick the best letters to the editor and online comments to the hottest stories to plug you in to what the industry really thinks.

You can take another look at the week's news and we'll also round up the stand-out, most thought-provoking, or unmissable comments posted after stories or sent straight through to the editor.

Comment any time on the Mortgage Solutions website and you could feature in next weeks Mortgage Mutterings.

Enjoy.

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Posted online

‘Don't Look back in anger' 26 Jul 2010 | 09:00

Bob Young's article is one of the best I have read on this subject since the FSA released its paper.
It seems that every time change is suggested the immediate reaction is to complain.
The FSA have not got everything right and, hopefully some things will change. As Lord Turner indicated, there are some serious cultural and political issues that need debate and decision before anything can be effectively implemented.
The economic climate that led us to the recent troubles was unsustainable and I think many people will welcome a return to a more sensible lending policy PROVIDING it doesn't stifle innovation.
Niche lenders will need to be more creative and have bespoke underwriting instead of computerised systems that will just say no to cater for the diversity of client circumstances and income.
In this scenario more people will need advice and it is still a world of opportunity for the really good professional brokers out there.
Yes, we do need to try and influence the FSA on some key issues and some people will need to understand they can't have their cake and eat in terms in terms of tax paid and income earned but we need to embrace the changes and make them work for us because, as BOB so rightly said, we won't be going back.
From Jane McMahon
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Sent by email

To the editor,
You reported last week on some recent research by the Consumer Financial Education Body, revealing that one in seven borrowers don't know what kind of mortgage they have. This research serves to highlight the worrying lack of understanding or awareness amongst UK consumers of the fundamentals of their personal financial situation.
I believe the "supermarket sweep" attitude to buying financial services products is in part to blame. Big aggregator advertising budgets can play a role in driving consumers online to often buy financial products without necessarily having due regard to more than price. Brokers can play a central role in educating as well as advising their clients on both their financial needs and the appropriateness of the products they are buying. It is much less likely that any consumer who has been duly and professionally advised will be ignorant of important facts about their mortgage, such as the type of mortgage they have and its key features and benefits.
This is equally true when it comes to protection. If one in seven consumers don't know what kind of mortgage they have, and three-quarters do not know how an interest rate rise of 1% could affect their monthly outgoings, how can we expect them to know what they need to know about the protection products they may have, or indeed how they would cope without it?
Despite the fact interest rates are likely to rise, around 2 million, or 14% say they don't know what they would cut back on if their mortgage payments were to increase by £200 per month. Were these same consumers to fall ill or lose their job, where is their cushion? How many will have given a thought to how they might cope?
In my view, these figures should serve as an early warning to brokers to make sure they advise clients on suitable protection and make sure they are aware of the consequences of the ‘it won't happen to me' syndrome.
Kind regards,
Kevin Paterson, sales & marketing director, Assurant Intermediary
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CML: MMR proposals a "tangible and significant" market risk 28 Jul 2010 | 10:56

Humbug
What an absolute load of nonsense.
This is merely a plea for low standards - the very problem that precipitated the credit crunch in the first place.
Why should mortgage advisers have lighter regulation than IFAs? It is madness that you can put yourself into hundred of thousands of pounds worth of debt, buying a single asset and achieve this with someone who is less well regulated and qualified than the bloke flogging you a £1,000 unit trust.
Isn't it about time that the UK shrugged off the stupid obsession with property ownership? Look where it has put prices. The price of houses is just ridiculous and needs to come down by at least 20%. Our European neighbours in the main are free from this idiocy - Spain is a good example of changing tack and getting into deep trouble.
This bleating about ‘where will people live' is disingenuous and redolent of vested interests.
Harry Katz
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Bank tells lesbians to change lifestyle for mortgage (27 Jul 2010 | 11:50)

[Comment 1]

Really?
I thought you were a UK mortgage magazine? What relevance is this to your readers? I have spent years campaigning on equality and rights for lesbian women but this story simply illustrates how far we have to go with some sections of the media who only want to drive traffic to websites.

Tammy Baldwin

[Comment 2]

Actually, I found it interesting. Can you really buy an apartment in Sweden for less than 50k? If so, it just goes to show we DO have overpriced property here in the UK. Maybe the price crash doom mongers have a point. And yes, it is blatant use of a headline to draw attention.

Dave Evans