MortgagesDec 9 2014

CML claims MMR had little impact on lending

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The industry successfully implemented the mortgage market review with little impact on lending, which grew by more than 15 per cent in 2014, the Council of Mortgage Lenders reports.

Today (9 December) in an annual member review, the CML revealed that work on the MMR is “not completely finished yet”.

In the second half of the year, the council revealed it continued to liaise with members and with the FCA to identify unintended consequences of the MMR.

The CML stated some effects – like the impact on remortgaging – may take time to emerge fully.

But Paul Smee, CML director general, said the trade body was encouraged that the regulator’s focus so far appeared to be on delivering the right outcomes for consumers, rather than on the application of the detail of every last rule.

He said as we approach the end of the year that the MMR had bedded in - and the focus was switching to the prospect of regulatory intervention by the Financial Policy Committee and Prudential Regulation Authority in the form of loan to income caps.

In the summer, CML’s chief economist Bob Pannell said figures pointed to a slowdown in mortgage activity levels, which was at least “in part” associated with the new MMR rules.

“Implementation of the new regulatory regime is likely to have disrupted the normal patterns of activity, creating statistical fog around the published figures,” he stated in June.

emma.hughes@ft.com