Calls for industry support of mortgage prisoners following APPG report

A new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) report has criticised the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) handling of issues affecting mortgage prisoners.

Commenting in response to the report, Leon Diamond, CEO of LiveMore, said “As hard-hitting as the APPG report is, it is a stern reminder to the industry of how serious this issue is for thousands of mortgage prisoners across the UK.

“In accordance with our social bond principles to progress social sustainability, we consider it our responsibility to protect consumers from financial stress and support them in what we believe is their fundamental right to live in their own home – especially as they get older.

“It is incomprehensible that more than 200,000 mortgage prisoners in the UK remain in this extremely difficult position. The report refers to financial stress and, threat of repossession and goes way beyond financial losses to include physical and emotional health issues and, most tragically, suicide.

“We are here to help the proportion of people in their 50s, 60s and even 90s plus who believe themselves to be mortgage prisoners because they believe that they simply can’t get a mortgage or remortgage after the age of 50 – and so are automatically transferred onto higher standard variable rates.

“The main problem for mortgage prisoners – especially if they’re older – is that they don’t meet lenders’ affordability criteria. It is fundamentally important that consumers understand that there are lenders out there who are willing to be more flexible and carry out a modified affordability assessment.

“For too long, the over-50s have been let down by lenders. Consumer Duty has very firmly shifted the onus of a ‘good outcome’ onto financial services providers. It is our responsibility to help out mortgage prisoners in any way we can. A large percentage of our customers are at term-end, many of whom considered themselves to be mortgage prisoners. We are committed to providing financial solutions that enable older borrowers to access the funding they need so they can achieve their life goals – or even just improve their standard of living.”