Anthony Browne MP is the Chair of the Conservative backbench Treasury Committee, a member of the Treasury Select Committee, and a former CEO of the British Bankers Association. So, when he speaks out of financial services issues, people sit up and listen.
Which is why we are delighted that, having chaired a meeting in Parliament last week on LTFRMs, with attendees including the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and the Bank of England, the LTFRM Alliance was delighted that he has written an article in support of LTFRMs for Conservative Home.
In his article, Browne outlined the key problems facing the UK mortgage market right now and explained how LTFRMs can help address some of those challenges. He noted that “with relatively minor changes, homebuyers can be given a more balanced choice between short-term and fixed term mortgages.
“Stretched homeowners, first time buyers and pension funds could all benefit. Governments in the past have considered it, but the severe impact of rising interest rates on homeowners means that politically there is no better time to make the change than now.”
Ending on a high note, he added that his view was that “the [current] Government is sympathetic to the case for opening up the market in long-term fixed rate mortgages.”
The LTFRM Alliance is delighted to have the support of a MP with such knowledge and expertise in this field as Anthony Browne. We hope that the Government will listen to the experts sitting on their own backbenches and proceed with the light-touch reforms that are needed to open up the mortgage market to LTFRMs sooner rather than later.