CML welcomes mortgage white paper

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has commended the European commission''s decision not to propose a directive in the absence of further study.

However, the removal of barriers to business would be a better focus of the paper than harmonising consumer protection measures, it says.

British consumers are tied to mortgage products from providers in their own country on the whole, it said, but there could be a lack of demand in the present financial climate.

Deputy head of policy Andrew Heywood said: "We hope that it will finally come to realise that a directive would not add value to its attempts to promote greater integration across EU mortgage markets."

He added that this move could have a negative impact on market confidence.

Recently the CML met with leading Conservatives to promote strategies for helping homeowners who were struggling financially.

It suggested the Conservatives should seek to redress the damage done by their own government policies during the 1990s.

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