EC mortgage proposals 'should be shelved'

Proposals featured in the European Commission''s (EC''s) white paper on the continent''s mortgage markets should be shelved, according to an industry body.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has stated it would "make no sense" to proceed with the proposals, which were originally published in December.

Andrew Heywood, the organisation''s deputy head of policy, said that the plans to integrate the market were unlikely to provide benefits due to the sector''s current conditions.

He explained: "Many European mortgage markets have changed so dramatically in recent months that the only sensible step at this stage is to drop the proposals and start again from a basis of analysing likely future market conditions.

"We believe that the Commission itself recognises this, and will not bring forward proposals in the immediate future."

Recent research by CML found that gross lending in the UK grew by five per cent in March when compared to statistic from the previous month.

The organisation stated that the figure was lower than the typical increase of 20 per cent that occurs over the time period.

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