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CML: Crunch putting borrowers off
7 July 2008 11:30
A lack of confidence over their chances of getting a mortgage is putting many people off applying for one, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has warned.
The Bank of England's latest credit report revealed that lenders felt mortgage supply was negatively affected by falling house prices and a dearth of wholesale funding over the past quarter, but that they also noted a decline in demand for loans for house purchases.
According to the CML, this tallies with anecdotal evidence it has garnered indicating that many people who would take out mortgages in a normal market are not even seeking to obtain one now because they do not believe they will succeed in their application.
The CML therefore highlighted the need for concerted action to remedy the shortfall in wholesale funds, arguing that the lack of finance available to lenders will continue unless the mortgage securitisation and covered bond markets are reopened.
Its director general Michael Coogan insisted that it was not too late to solve this funding problem and urged Sir James Crosby at the Financial Services' Authority and chancellor Alistair Darling to take the necessary steps to do so.
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