Mortgage Lenders Election Manifesto

Mortgage Lenders Election Manifesto.

Election fever is now gripping mortgage lenders.  In a strange move, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has today published an animated video of its own election manifesto. The Council of Mortgage Lenders is a representative body for most major mortgage lending and banking groups in the United Kingdom.

The tongue in cheek video makes reference to many 'election promises' that mortgage lenders would make if they were in power such as:

• a structured new build plan to deliver enough housing to satisfy demand
• expansion of shared ownership and shared equity property schemes to make them the 'norm'
• development of new homes for the elderly and people needing care as our population ages
• to make lending after retirement easier with less red tape given the current restrictions for people looking to borrow money given that when they are in retirement their options are restricted to non-income based equity release schemes unless pensioners have substantial guaranteed income in retirement
• to develop a new strategy for people who experience a change in circumstances such as being made redundant or off long term sick and not being able to afford their mortgage payments

Comment

Whilst we empathise with many of the suggestions made in the mortgage lenders election manifesto, most of their suggestions appear to require government funding, government support for benefits, a building programme that simply cannot cope with the population increase expected in the UK over the next 10 years and the only organisations that will benefit, suprise suprise, from these 'manifesto' promises would be mortgage lenders themselves with increased borrowing capacity but with lower red tape as well as lower default risks and builders.

We like the idea of people at retirement age being able to convert, without red tape, their mortgage to some form of lifetime mortgage or equity release scheme.

We actually believe it should be compulsory that every mortgage borrower is required, by law, to have some form of income protection against sickness, inability to work and redundancy.  This would mean that all borrowers and lenders would be protected against changes in work or family circumstances as well as the Department for Work and Pensions not being burdened by people claiming benefits to have their mortgage interest payments met if they are unable to work. This would save £ billions spreading the risk across all mortgage borrowers via insurance premiums, just like motor insurance does.  It is a no-brainer which the government should action today.