Specialist lenders' return to the market "essential"

Crown Mortgage Management is supporting the Financial Services Authority in defending specialist lenders and believes the return of non-confirming loans to the market is essential for a full market recovery.

Since the start of the credit crunch, there have been around 1.2 million County Court Judgments and 187,000 personal insolvencies meaning hundreds of thousands of previously good borrowers now have a blighted credit history and would be unable to get a mortgage under the majority of current lenders’ criteria.

Crown believes that lenders need to re-enter the market quickly. However, with the demise of many sub-prime lenders since the start of the credit crunch, the responsibility may rest with prime lenders establishing sub-prime operations with many choosing to opt to outsource the management to a specialist servicer.

Steve Haggerty, chief executive of Crown, said: “Specialist lenders are essential for a full market recovery as without them hundreds of thousands of people would be prevented from future home ownership.

“The key is the appropriateness of the product, based on affordability, and good management of impaired credit mortgages, which is where servicers can play an important role to ensure that the customer interface is kept within the bounds of compliance and Treating Customers Fairly.”