I am a Europhile, and cry tears of joy over a well-run train system, but sadly we can expect a lot more of this misdirected regulatory energy next year.
Some of the finer points of the MMR, like transitional arrangements for mortgage prisoners, have been derailed. And mortgage advisers are scurrying to make sense of – and prepare for – the changes to consumer buy-to-let and secured lending market enshrined in the European mortgage credit directive.
Back in the UK, the biggest event bar none for lenders next year has to be the advent of the senior persons’ regime on 7 March 2016. This is the regulator’s largest single bid to transform a culture of opaque irresponsibility into one of individual accountability. This is one to watch, as this audacious move should hit its mark and prove to be a badly needed turning point for a previously lamentable banking culture.
On a more festive note, mortgage advisers have a lot to be thankful for. After years in the wilderness, the advice channel hit 69% market share of distribution this year, predicted to rise to 75% by the end of next year. Whole-of-market advised mortgage sales continue to be the only common sense option for discerning consumers and it’s likely to stay that way for some time to come.
This blog was first published in the Council of Mortgage Lender’s News and Views, which includes a host of responses to the statement: “All I want for Christmas is…”
For more from Housing economist and author of the Barker Report, Dame Kate Barker, Shadow housing and planning minister John Healey and Jonathan Davidson, director of retail supervision at the FCA, among a host of others, click here.
With thanks to the CML.
