New consumer duty could lead to reduced mortgage access

A new consumer duty placed on financial services providers could lead to lenders being more cautious and fewer people able to access mortgages, the chief executive of a trade association has said. David Postings told UK Finance's annual mortgage lunch that the measure was a "well-meaning idea". Mr Postings also said there is a need to remain vigilant as the housing stock changes to meet environmental objectives. He said: “I worry that the easy policy option – pushing lenders to go green at a pace that essentially just greens balance sheets and not the housing stock – might prove hard to resist optically. This approach could have the unintended consequence of either creating energy-inefficient properties that are un-mortgageable or penalising those homeowners who cannot make the change easily.”

City AM (13/03/2023)   Daily Mail (13/03/2023)   Evening Standard (13/03/2023)   The Independent (13/03/2023)