CML news & views

The recently published annual review of the Financial Ombudsman Service reported a dramatic fall in complaints about endowment mortgages, and a sharp rise in cases related to banking and payment protection insurance. Meanwhile, Lord Hunt recently made a number of recommendations for improving the service, reflecting arguments we had put forward in our submission to his review.

The credit crunch is restricting lending for house purchase across the UK. But in Scotland house prices are 25% lower than the UK average, making them more affordable. That means that Scottish home-buyers are less likely than the average UK borrower to be affected by lending criteria that have tightened as a result of the shortage of mortgage funding.

In publishing our revised forecasts for the rest of this year, we predicted that the number of loans for remortgaging would rise by 2%. Generally, however, our forecasts anticipate a more pronounced market slowdown this year, although the outlook for arrears and possessions remains unchanged.

The CML has appointed a new acting chairman: Richard Brown, managing director of Bank of Ireland Personal Lending. Richard succeeds the previous chairman, Steven Crawshaw of Bradford & Bingley plc, who stood down on health grounds.

Two firms, Paymentshield and Fool Financial Services, have become associates of the CML. There are now 88 associates, as well as 157 members.