Contents Government lending targets would have proved better
Winter has fi nally settled in and the chill is bitter. Last month I argued for something, anything on housing from the government to help shore up a market that’s lost its way. We’ve now had a “comprehensive” housing strategy includ-
ing a mortgage indemnity guarantee to help borrowers buy new build homes and considerable discounts for social tenants want- ing to buy their council houses. There’s also a cash incentive for builders to restart abandoned projects with a focus on affordable
housing. Being honest it’s not the silver bullet people were hoping for and while we shouldn’t look a gifthorse in the mouth, the thinness of this “brilliant” plan is telling. It looks like the government is simply uninterested in giving housing a proper
boost. Industry pundits have bemoaned the decision to scrap the stamp duty holiday for fi rst-time buyers from March 2012. The plan neglects swathes of second time buy- ers and it depends wholly on lenders agreeing to play ball. Given the pressures that continue to plague Europe, push up LIBOR, depress
confi dence and the ever-increasing need to recapitalise their balance sheets, it seems naively hopeful to assume lenders will back large volume lending on new build. If the government had been serious about helping the sector it would have set
lenders quarterly targets for new build and fi rst-time buyers – much like the Project Merlin targets they have for SME lending. But when you consider the regulator’s objective of achieving a stable and sustain-
able mortgage market the last thing they want is house prices running away with themselves and a boom in lending. The mood of the country is to pay down debt and indeed the latest numbers from
the Bank of England show that homeowners have repaid more than they’ve bor- rowed in every quarter since spring 2008. It makes sense to pay lip service to housing because it affects every poll card carry-
ing person in this country. But keeping the mortgage market frosty suits our govern- ment at the moment because it gives our banks a chance to stabilise. Cold comfort it may be but (Europe self-destructing aside) things in the mortgage
market shouldn’t get any worse. For brokers that should be encouraging because if you’ve survived this year it’s likely you’ll survive next. In the meantime, Merry Christmas to all our readers and fi ngers crossed 2012 is a happier New Year.
Sarah Davidson, Editor
Mortgage Introducer Editor
Sarah Davidson, 020 7502 8225
Sarah@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Reporter Yuan Phoon, 020 7502 8220
Yuan@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Editorial Director
Nia Williams, 020 7502 8231
Nia@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Issue 41 December 2011 Publisher
Robyn Hall, 020 7502 8229
Robyn@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Associate Publisher
Matt Bond, 020 7502 8227
Matt@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
Subscriptions Andrew Goldsmith, 020 7502 8220
Andrew@thepublishinggroup.co.uk
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4 News Review 6 Property News Review 8 Lending News Review 10 Advice News Review 12 Buy-to-let News Review 13 Scottish News Review 14 Equity Release News Review 15 Near Prime News Review 16 Products News Review 18 General Insurance News Review 19 Specialist Prime News Review 19 Economics News Review 20 MBE News Review 21 Protection News Review 22 Packaging News Review 22 Short-term Lending News Review
24 The Bigger Issue Vote in our poll and see what the experts think
27 Falling short of expectations Another year, another end of term report 34 Landlords never had it so good Landlords’ views on the sector 36 The Power Hour All bets are off for 2012 42 The Interview MI talks to CML’s Paul Smee
44 House prices Numbers reveal the national picture
48 Bridging and Commercial News Review 50 NACFB News digest The NACFB shares its news from the past month
54 Hall of Fame Who is infamous this month?
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