Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the effect of mortgage availability restrictions on office to residential conversions on the supply of homes for sale; and what steps the department is taking to prevent habitable housing stock from becoming effectively unsellable except to cash buyers.

Decisions concerning the pricing and availability of mortgages are commercial decisions for lenders and the government does not seek to intervene in them.

My Department has made no specific assessment of the impact of mortgage availability restrictions on office-to-residential conversions, it holds no data on properties affected, and it has not issued specific guidance to local authorities on their long-term mortgageability.

The government is determined that lenders should treat borrowers fairly. Any dispute arising between a bank and its customers is usually best resolved by the parties involved. If a customer is not happy with their bank’s response, they can ask the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to review their complaint. The FOS provides a free, independent dispute resolution service for bank customers. Its decisions are binding on the firm concerned.