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Better Business

‘Rush for payment deferments was akin to panic buying toilet rolls’ – Star Letter 05/06/2020

Mortgage Solutions
Written By:
Posted:
June 5, 2020
Updated:
June 5, 2020

Each week Mortgage Solutions and its sister title Specialist Lending Solutions select the top comments from our readers in our Star Letter section.

 

Mortgage payment holidays were the driving theme for commentators this week as lenders started adapting their criteria to the current situation.

The first comment came from Arron Bardoe on the article: Landlords on payment holidays denied mortgages for BTL purchases.

Bardoe said: “We should be avoiding the term ‘holiday’ as this is what has caused most of the problems so far. It is a deferment.

“The spirit of not negatively affecting files is to ensure borrowers can borrow in the future when the market returns to normal.

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“While there will be exceptions, why would lenders want to lend to someone who is not paying their other mortgages unless there are good reasons.

“The rush for payment deferments was akin to the panic buying of toilet rolls.

“If they were taken as a precaution and no longer needed then they should have been cancelled before applying for another mortgage.”

John Azopardi said: “So are we saying that someone who can put at least a 25 per cent deposit against a new purchase, and has enough to pay their legal fees and stamp duty plus the three per cent enhancement is on a ‘payment holiday’?

“I seriously question some people’s priorities.”

 

Is it fair?

In a similar vein, Stuart Phillips responded to the article: Pepper tightens income evidence requirements and rejects furloughed borrowers.

Phillips said: “As a responsible lender they should be treating their customers fairly. How is it fair that a government backed and promoted scheme is now being used to exclude customers from their products?

“I understand that they have to consider customers in financial difficulty, but customers that made use of a temporary payment holiday to maintain cashflow when their own tenants were not paying does not necessarily mean they are in difficulty.

“Perhaps it just means that they want to keep their cash in the bank for when it might be needed more? Payment holidays seem like a sensible tool to use in a business facing uncertainty.”