Mortgage Prisoners – Where Next? Although there's more attention than ever before, the direction of travel with regards to mortgage prisoners remains in doubt. The bottom line is that mortgage lenders are often reluctant to take borrower off higher rates as they ultimately earn less. Much more pressure is therefore needed to force them to behave more fairly. Lobbying efforts by UK Mortgage Prisoner Support Service and Money Savings Expert have been at the forefront of pushing things forward. There was also a BBC documentary that bought much-needed attention to the issue. The main demands being made are: To stop the sale of packaged home loans to vulture funds; Widen the regulatory rules meaning that mortgage prisoners are better protected from extortionate interest rates; Control the profit margins that lenders can make; Bring all UK mortgages back to traditional lenders; Wider adherence to Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations legislation. Moving Foward... It's estimated that 80% of people in this situation have packaged mortgages owned by vulture funds. This effectively means that any obligations imposed by the FCA are a blunt instrument. Whilst the remaining 20% may be able to access more lenient mortgage criteria, there are increasing calls to roll out what's known as a 'modified affordability assessment' across the board. By definition, as a mortgage prisoner, you would need to fulfil set criteria including: Being up to date with your mortgage payments for the last 12 months. In essence, the longer the better; The term has ended and you're on a standard variable rate (typically higher ); Not borrowing more money against your property; There are no plans to sell the property; There will be a genuine benefit from switching mortgages. At the current time, the mortgage market is going through a process of reevaluation resulting from the coronavirus pandemic. At the height of the pandemic, the market effectively froze and a number of products were withdrawn. This meant that the FCA needed to grant lenders more time (extended from 3 to 9 months), leaving many borrowers in limbo. Nonetheless, it's now ever clearer that it was the government that sold off the responsibility of these mortgages. An All-Party Parliamentary Group on Mortgage Prisoners (APPG) has therefore been formed to directly appeal to the FCA and deal with this issue headfirst. The aim is to widen the remit of the FCA to target the vulture funds controlling these mortgages. The APPG will also call for a reasonable limit on standard variable interest rates. Join the Force Against Mortgage Imprisonment Law firm Harcus Parker taking legal action on behalf of a number of people that have previously taken mortgages with Northern Rock, Bradford & Bingley or Mortgage Agency Services 1-7. Perhaps the most well-publicised as it was one of the main triggers of the financial crash back in 2007. This formerly nationalised lender now trades as Landmark. The mortgages were sold to an American private equity firm called Cerberus Capital Management. These mortgages are also owned by NRAM Limited, although you may find that you're dealing with UK Asset Resolution when you try and get in touch with the lender. Bradford & Bingley were nationalised after the financial crisis. Heliodor currently administers many of these mortgages. Heliodor is the trading name of Topaz Finance. Note that if you have taken finance out with Mortgage Express, Topaz Finance are likely to be administering your mortgage at the time of writing. Home loans held by Mortgage Agency Services 1-7 are now held by the Co-operative Bank. You can register on the Harcus Parker website and they will be in touch to ask for more information about your specific case. The intention is to claim compensation back from the lenders on the basis of unfairly high rates. Note that although, this is operating on a 'no sale, no fee' basis, the firm will be taking a 35% share of any win they achieve (plus VAT). There will also be disbursements to pay. To Conclude... As stated above, there are many homeowners across the country going through this situation. The number is likely to rise especially as more mortgages taken prior to the credit crunch come to an end. Please feel free to email us at info@propertysolvers.co.uk. We'd be more than happy to help in any way we can. Remember also we have various sell house fast solutions should you decide this is the best course of action.