Speaking on Radio 4, Coogan said that, while he was supportive of the importance of the debate on 15 February, he was concerned that it would focus on the effect of the lack of funding rather than addressing the core funding issues.
He highlighted the causes included lenders having less money, low retail savings in the low interest rate environment, and increased regulatory intervention.
The efficacy of the meeting has been further brought into doubt by unconfirmed reports suggesting that the government meeting will last only an hour and a half.
In addition, Mortgage Solutions understands that no mortgage lenders have been invited and that the CML will be representing lender’s views.
Coogan said: “As I understand it, many of the banks and building societies are not going to be there and much of the debate will be on trying to provide answers to the housing market problems.
“If we can’t improve the amount of funding available and we aren’t able to persuade the regulator to take a slightly less direct, intensive and intrusive approach for individual organisations, we’re not going to make much difference. You can offer products, but you’re not going to be able to sell many of them.”
However, Housing Minister Grant Shapps, also appearing on the same Radio 4 programme, said the meeting would “have representation from across the mortgage market”, including the banks.
Shapps said there were no quick fixes to the problems facing first-time buyers and, with future concerns including the FSA’s Mortgage Market Review, it was important to debate why they cannot access mortgages in today’s market.
He said he was keeping a close eye on the MMR and added that he would prefer to see “top level regulation” that gave power to the Bank of England to control the banks.
However, Shapps said “down in the dirt” rules on mortgage products were not the way forward and innovation was best left to the mortgage lenders.
Shapps said: “I want mortgage innovators to come together to think about the kind of products that can help in the shorter-term, while in the longer term we sort out the big problem of top level regulation and the deficit, which is at the heart of all of this.”
