Mortgage Brokers Want FSA to Regulate BTL Market

A survey conducted in the mid-July by Exact Mortgage Experts suggests that the majority of British mortgage brokers want to see the UK buy to let property market regulated by the Financial Services Authority. The survey was conducted among 549 mortgage brokers with 4 out of 10 of them revealing that their clients are amateur rather than professional landlords. What is more, 75% of those surveyed claimed that their clients were amateur investors as well! The managing director of Exact Mortgage Experts, Mr. Alan Cleary, is determined that the buy to let mortgage sector should have always been under the control of the FSA (at least, from the very beginning of the Government’s regulation of the UK mortgage market). According to Mr. Cleary, the lack of efficient government’s regulation resulted in the fact that the abundance of mortgage products paved the way for amateur landlords and investors onto the rental property market. Those amateur investors and landlords were not 100% aware of the risks associated with buy to let business and property investment and are not living through tough financial times. The fact finds its proof in official statistics, which reveals that the number of buy to let mortgage landlords in arrears is well above the market average. The surveyor, Exact Mortgage Experts, is determined that the vast majority of indebted landlords are those individuals who invested unwisely. Commenting on the situation, Mr. Cleary highlighted that it is the lack of government’s regulation that allowed amateur investors climb onto the buy to let property ladder. He added that the lack of regulation in the buy to let sector also accounts for the fact the UK government finds it hard to protect landlords. Mr. Cleary urges the Financial Services Authority to correct its mistakes and to take the sector under control rather than to “review BTL sector regulation”.