Mortgage lending still playing the postcode lottery

April 4, 2015 by Brendan O'Neill

Lenders

It would seem that mortgage lending is at times a bit of a lottery when it comes to where you live.

Back in the summer of 2013, a handful of major mortgage providers first released data concerning 10,000 British postcode sectors. The fact that it aimed to highlight areas where the firms were less willing to lend was hoped to increase transparency, while enabling the banks to be held to account.

However, new information is set to be released later this month, although it is clear that there was and possibly still is lending gaps. Based on the 2013 data, it was revealed that Nationwide and Santander were the two providers that agreed lending most evenly across the country. HSBC and Barclays, on the other hand, appeared to concentrate more on neighbourhoods with higher incomes.

As the information used was limited, and it had to make do without the full disclosure of data from lenders, it is difficult to state whether they are being unwilling to lend in certain areas. It may be that some mortgage providers have different lending criteria for various areas, with each assessing risk in their own way.

The Mortgage https://www.beaconfinancialtraining.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/cemap-online-and-classroom-training-uk.jpget Review (MMR) that was carried out in April of 2014 will have had an impact on the way that the providers make their lending decisions. It brought about increased regulation to ensure that lending was done in a responsible manner. Any mortgage professionals working in this sector will have had to complete their CeMAP training and passed the end exam, which could translate to more positive results for customers.