With the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) coming in to force tomorrow, the Building Societies Association (BSA) is urging for a common sense approach to supervision from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Paul Broadhead, BSA head of mortgage policy, said: “It is understandable that people are concerned about the changes to the mortgage application process, however it is vital that this new regime does not dent consumer confidence or sentiment in the housing market.
“The Mortgage Market Review was introduced in order to ensure that a common sense approach to mortgage lending is applied by all lenders and that people are not borrowing more than they can afford to pay. A number of building societies implemented the process early and have been lending this way, without problems, for a number of weeks, in fact, the common sense approach has been taken for years.
“What will be important, particularly in the early days of the new regime, is that the FCA also takes a common sense approach to supervision, to ensure that lenders have confidence to continue lending to all creditworthy borrowers.
“We do not believe that the majority of borrowers will have an issue, despite the horror stories that may appear in the coming weeks. It is highly unlikely that a single purchase or category of expenditure will make the difference between yes or no decisions, but if anyone is concerned, we would urge them to talk to their local building society for information, advice and support.”