Mortgages

Mr. Stewart Jackson
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 11 January 2009, Official Report, column 709W, on mortgages, what assessment has been made of the effect of the European Commission proposals on (a) the level of access by first time buyers to mortgages and (b) the maximum loan to value mortgage permitted for residential mortgages.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry
The Tripartite Authorities continue to engage in European proposals concerning mortgage markets and are themselves exploring changes to mortgage regulation at a UK level. The FSA issued a Discussion Paper in October 2009 reviewing the current regulations. Chapter 3 discusses prudential measures, and Chapter 4 considers product regulation. The paper is available online at:

www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/discussion/dp09_03.pdf