FTAdviser readers have been unimpressed by the measures to address the mortgage crisis agreed between chancellor Jeremy Hunt and lenders.
On Friday, following a meeting with heads of banks and financial institutions at Downing Street, Hunt said lenders had agreed to allow those struggling to extend the terms of their mortgages or move to an interest-only plan temporarily with “no questions asked”.
Lenders also agreed that anyone can talk to their bank or mortgage lender with no impact on their credit score and that there will be a minimum 12-month period before a repossession without consent takes place.
But FTAdviser readers were unimpressed by the package of measures.
One asked: "What happens to the credit score if the client cant go back to the original deal after six months? Will the credit score be affected then..."
Another simply said: "Really? Is that it?" and a third said: "The bankers certainly won that one."
FTAdviser reader Shaun.W7999 said: "You would like to think that such measures would already be in place and that lenders would be 'putting themselves in the shoes of their customers' rather than coldly hiding behind T&C's or contractual wording?
"The whole situation is a farce."
Meanwhile another reader said: "Hunt didn’t need a meeting. This was just political hype.
"Lending banks ain’t stupid. 'Forbearance' has been in place and effective since 2010. Re-scheduling debt is Janet and John stuff.
"[Credit reference agencies] diluting credit scores on the back of re-scheduled debt seems entirely reasonable for mortgagors with financial difficulties. This is what credit referencing and credit scoring is meant to be all about…!"
One reader pointed to the differences between the UK mortgage market and those in other countries: "Please could someone with sufficient clout call the banks and building societies out for lending short on long term loans and leaving the poor benighted mortgage holders to carry the risk, and call the government out for not preventing it.
"The French, Dutch, Belgians and Americans lend the length of the mortgage at affordable interest rates so it is possible if there is a will to do so."
damian.fantato@ft.com
