Letters to the Editor

Any electoral reform should ensure fairness to the

English, complex issues of prime and sub-prime

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IS THIS DEMOCRACY FOR THE ENGLISH?

Sir,

No doubt like many in the industry I was disappointed at the outcome of the General Election and a lack of clear government.

I fear though that the shabby deals that went on behind all the closed doors to provide the country with a government has only highlighted what a disaster any form of proportional representation would be like. The democratic process would be a matter of the tail wagging the dog, or put another way, every minority nationalist could be a winner except the English.

Let us examine the following facts from the General Election: The overall UK vote was 29,653,638; a 65.1% poll. Of that we have the following seats: Conservative: 306, Labour: 258, Liberal: 57, Scottish Nationalists: 6, Plaid Cymru: 6, Other: 19. However, taking England as a whole the total number of votes cast was 25,047,155 - a total of 84.5% of the electorate of the UK. This translated into: Conservative: 297, Labour: 191, Liberal: 43, Green: 1. Put another way the English voted for the Conservatives to form a government.

So why is it that all the other regions in the UK can hold England to ransom? Why is it that all the other regions of the UK have their own Parliament yet have the same voting rights over the majority English?

I’m not particularly enthralled with the Liberal / Conservative coalition but any rainbow alliance of government with Labour would only have put the English in a more vulnerable position than they are now.

But why are the English so tolerant of the

current system that has led to England being run by Scotland for the last 13 years? Without doubt any future electoral reform should ensure fairness to the English.

Danny Lovey

Sole broker (soon to be retired) Basildon Essex

Letter of the month

Complex Prime is not the new sub-prime

Sir,

I would like to take the opportunity of congratulating both Mortgage Introducer and Colin Snowdon (Aldermore) for taking up the cudgels recently and looking in some depth at Complex Prime lending. A debate which is gathering pace, yet, which in some sectors, is largely misunderstood.

Complex Prime describes the initiative simply. It is for applications which are complex by nature but which are written for clients with a prime credit history. I feel it important to reinforce that Complex Prime is not the new sub-prime. Indeed, it is far from it, and the recent articles by Colin have gone some way towards clearing the confusion. AToM first offered Complex Prime as long ago as 1996 when we experienced our first dramatic growth spurt offering mortgage intermediaries and their clients a way through the lending maze placing cases which did not, on the face of it, fit any of the lenders profiles. The cases had to be clean, affordable and make economic sense for both the lender and the borrower alike. Surprisingly, nothing has changed on these historic requirements! So here we are, more than a decade later, in a mortgage world which appears to have turned

full circle.

Once again, lenders are looking to cover every conceivable angle to protect their distribution and ensure that they are lending demonstrably in a propitious manner. Yet, as a result, many are using ‘black box’ mentality to decide which customers they want and are turning away those which would appear to be ‘unworthy’! The computer ‘DIP’ decision is a valuable tool but it is also turning away quality clients on an alarmingly regular basis. What we are striving to deliver through Complex Prime, is a way for potential borrowers to obtain a mortgage, underwritten manually and where credit scoring is not the ‘be all, end all’ decisioning tool. In other words, back to basic, common sense lending. There are three overriding factors which determine the viability of this type of mortgage application. They are maximum loan to value of 75%; a clean credit history and that applicants must be able to prove, beyond any doubt, that they have the ability to afford the mortgage to the satisfaction of the lenders’ underwriter. If these three points can be satisfactorily managed then there is a better than average chance that an underwriter will agree the case. AToM has entered into arrangements with six lenders who are happy to work on this basis. It is enlightening that we can arrange mortgages for human beings, underwritten by human beings who are willing to discuss any nuances in a ‘can do’ manner rather than relying on the computer says no ‘black box’ mentality we seem to have had thrust upon us in recent times. Long may this revitalised and sensible attitude prevail for the benefit of the paying customer.

Victor J Jannels Group Executive Chairman The AToM Group Horsham West Sussex

Letters to the editor are welcome and may be edited for publication. Write to the address on page 3 or email nia@thepublishinggroup.co.uk

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