Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reforming mortgage regulation.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent of Government, are responsible for the regulation and conduct of financial services and markets, including the residential mortgage market.

In 2014, the FCA put in place new regulation for mortgages in the UK, known as the ‘Mortgage Market Review’. This was based on the principle that mortgages should only be advanced where there is a reasonable expectation that they could be repaid by borrowers.

However, this Government welcomes innovation in the mortgage market, particularly where this provides borrowers with the greatest choice possible about the level of interest rate risk that they are willing to take on.