A report said that government measures to help struggling home-owners weather the recession needed to be strengthened in order to prevent more people being needlessly repossessed.
Source: Turning the Tide? Evidence from the free advice sector on mortgage and secured loan possession actions in England in July 2009, Shelter, Advice UK, and Citizens Advice
Links: Report | Shelter press release
Date: 2009-Dec
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the practices of mortgage lenders. It said that it remained determined to take 'all appropriate steps' to ensure that lenders lent responsibly, mortgage borrowers were protected, and there was a range of support and advice for those facing financial difficulties.
Source: Mortgage Arrears and Access to Mortgage Finance: Government and Financial Services Authority Responses to the Fifteenth Report, Tenth Special Report (Session 2008-09), HC 1068, House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2009-Nov
The Scottish Government published a Bill to improve protection for home-owners faced with repossession at each stage of the repossession process.
Source: Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill, Scottish Government, available from Blackwell's Bookshop (0131 622 8283)
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Policy memorandum | SG press release
Date: 2009-Oct
A report by a committee of MPs said that mainstream mortgage lenders were, broadly speaking, complying with the regulatory code of conduct. But there was evidence of a lack of flexibility and forbearance in the sub-prime, specialist, and second charge sectors to home-owners in arrears. Some lenders were also charging high and excessive mortgage arrears fees to customers who fell into mortgage difficulties.
Source: Mortgage Arrears and Access to Mortgage Finance, Fifteenth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 766, House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | FSA press release | CML press release | Consumer Association press release | Guardian report | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2009-Aug
A think-tank report said that mandatory lending guidelines for mortgage providers were needed, in order to ensure that the mistakes that resulted in the 'credit crunch' were not repeated. Limits should be applied to the level of wholesale funding, and on the amount of money mortgage lenders could lend for non-residential property. A maximum loan-to-value ratio of 95 per cent should be applied.
Source: Chris Hamnett, The Madness of Mortgage Lenders: Housing finance and the financial crisis, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Report | IPPR press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-May
A report examined the nature of regional markets for low-cost home-ownership offered by housing associations since the global economic downturn, and the impact of private developer shared-equity schemes on housing associations.
Source: Gemma Burgess, Fiona Lyall Grant and Christine Whitehead, Low Cost Home Ownership and the Credit Crunch, Tenant Services Authority (0845 230 7000)
Date: 2009-Apr
A paper examined why home-ownership by people aged 25-44 fell over the period 1980-2000, when it became easier to own a home. A trend toward marrying later, and the increase in household earnings risk that occurred after 1980, accounted for most of the decline.
Source: Jonas Fisher and Martin Gervais, Why Has Home Ownership Fallen Among the Young?, Working Paper W09/08, Institute for Fiscal Studies (020 7291 4800)
Links: Paper
Date: 2009-Mar
A think-tank paper said that government attempts to help home-owners in arrears during the economic recession were expensive and unlikely to help many people. Instead, court guidance for dealing with repossession hearings should be improved to assist those in need.
Source: Natalie Elphicke, Save 100,000 Homes from Repossession, Centre for Policy Studies (020 7222 4488)
Links: Summary | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Feb
An article examined the value home-buyers attached to the financial returns on housing; and the extent to which home equity was earmarked and used as a financial buffer. It considered whether – in the interests of housing and social policy, as well as with a view to managing the economy – there was any need, scope, or appetite for more actively sharing the financial risks and investment gains of housing systems anchored on owner-occupation.
Source: Susan Smith, Beverley Searle and Nicole Cook, 'Rethinking the risks of home ownership', Journal of Social Policy,Volume 38 Issue 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Jan
