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Regulation | 25
businesses in a challenging environment. needed confidence boost has not been as evi-
Mortgage brokers and IFA firms dent as it might.
remain the bedrock of the industry The longer this delay the longer businesses
and measures such as deferring the will suffer. Looking ahead, 2009 has already set
increase in corporation tax is a its stall out to be a tough year and it is remains
positive step to aiding their sur- vital for the industry to do what we can to help
vival. The commitment to keep support mortgage intermediaries who, in the
banks lending to small busi- words of the Crosby Report 'are losing share in
nesses should also be a rapidly declining market and many will dis-
applauded as should any appear'.
other measures to reduce the
tax burdens for small busi- Integral part
nesses. Intermediaries do remain an integral part of
the mortgage market. The latest Financial
Please sir… Services Authority figures published through
Turning our attention to the the Council of Mortgage Lenders show that
response from the Crosby although intermediary lending's market share
report and it seems that the has fallen 6 per cent year-on-year it still pro-
industry has come over a little vides over 60 per cent of loans being sold in the
Oliver Twist by asking 'Please sir, UK.
I want some more'. The majority These figures prove that the broker market
of the actual content and recom- continues to hold up as the dominant distribu-
mendations seem in line with what tion channel and it will maintain this domi-
the market needs but it has raised many nance despite problems faced over the past year
questions, and eyebrows, over the timing by dual pricing and liquidity issues.
of just when, and if, these suggested meas- Looking at the bigger picture it is apparent
ures will be adopted. that the housing market and economy need an
The report does not provide enough real immediate stimulus which will in turn help
information on the actual practical boost consumer confidence but again, unfortu-
implementation of the proposals and nately this still looks some way off. The pre-
there has been somewhat of an under- Budget and Crosby reports have certainly
whelming response to the recommen- helped wet the appetite but it is also increasing-
dations especially regarding the ly evident that actions speak louder than
timeline involved in their execution. words.
As we w
D
er
e
e going t
laying fur
o pr
ther a
ess, the go
ction unt
v
il ne
ernment
xt
income support, pension credit or income-
announc
year's b
ed a number of ne
udget - which w
w initiativ
ill result in it b
es;
eing
based jobseekers allowance.
there hav
somew
e also been changes t
here in the region of a y
o some of
ear since the
The waiting period to qualify has also
the bank r
original r
escue measur
eport was co
es announc
mmissioned - is far
ed last been reduced by two-thirds to 13 weeks.
year
to
.
o long a time period and I firmly believe
However, the help will not be available to
that urg
A mortgage r
ent actio
escue plan aimed at helping
n is required now to secure an
couples with joint mortgages in a situation
peopl
increase
e about t
d flow o
o l
f
ose their homes has been
funds into the mortgage mar-
where one has been made redundant. A
r
ke
oll
t.
ed out nationally from mid-January. The second scheme addressing this is being
scheme means housing as
Unfortunately this appear
sociations will
s unlikely to hap-
finalised to allow householders to defer a
buy pr
pen whe
operties fr
n you dig
om peopl
est some o
e s
f the C
truggling t
hancel
o
lor's
proportion of their mortgage interest
pay their mortgage and then l
comments: "To implement Sir J
et those
ames' recom-
payments for up to two years. Apparently
money
peopl
mendat
e r
io
emain in their homes. The pric
ns, the government is required t
e
o
eight UK major lenders have signed up to
to be
paid f
obtain stat
or the pr
e aid ap
operty will be det
proval from the E
ermined
uropean
the principle of the scheme, which would be
lent to
independentl
Commission and r
y and the pr
esolve so
evious o
me technical and
wners will covered by a government guarantee.
small
either pay the as
practical consider
sociation r
ations but w
ent or be giv
e will proce
en a
ed to
The government has also launched a
businesses
l
w
oan fr
ork up a d
om the housing as
etailed scheme base
sociation and
d on his recom-
second set of measures to encourage banks
by 2009. He
r
me
emain as o
ndations and se
wners.
ek approval to proceed."
to lend to both consumers and businesses.
also
The National Housing Federation and the These will enable banks to take up
revealed the
Council of Mortgage Lender
Real concern
s developed the government insurance against their
creation of a
scheme las
It is a positiv
t y
e st
ear and 80 l
ep that the g
oc
o
al authorities
vernment has
expected bad debt meaning that they won't
SME finance
alr
ackno
eady hav
wledge
e it in plac
d the prob
e. The go
lems facing the mo
vernment
rt-
lose more debt. And also the Bank of
scheme where
belie
gage ind
ves it will sav
ustry and it ap
e up t
pear
o 6,000 fr
s on the s
om
urface to
England will be able to buy up to £50 billion
businesses can
r
b
epos
e hea
ses
ding d
sion.
own the right path to try solving
worth of assets directly from companies in
borrow between the
In addition, the Support f
m. However, there remains r
or Mortgage
eal concern that
all sectors of the economy. Also, Northern
£1,000 and £1 mil-
Int
it is failing t
erest benefit has been e
o recognise the urg
xtended t
ency of
o
the pro-
Rock was given extra time to repay its loans
lion by announcing
include mortgages up t
posal in the Crosby Repo
o £200,000 - doubl
rt to guarantee mo
e
rt-
from the government in an attempt to
that the government wants
the pr
gage-ba
evious limit. The scheme pr
cked securities. This guarant
o
e
vides
e should,
prevent it reducing its lending.
businesses to borrow flexible, affordable and
mortgage r
in theory, ce
elief t
rtainl
o those who ar
y help increase funding f
e already
or
Only time will tell how effective these
accessible loans.
r
ne
ec
w b
eiving a means t
orrowers but thanks t
ested benefit, such as
o the fact that there
new measures will be.
This is a welcomed boost to a many small is no clear timeline for this initiative the much
www.mortgageintroducer.com February 2009 Mortgage Introducer
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