UK mortgage lenders told they can scrap affordability rules for buyers

theguardian.com:

Lenders will no longer have to check whether homeowners could afford mortgage payments at higher interest rates after the Bank of England ditched rules originally designed to avoid another 2007-style credit crunch.

The rules, introduced in 2014, were intended to make sure borrowers did not take on more debt than they could afford, and potentially “amplify” an economic downturn and put financial stability at risk.

The decision to withdraw the affordability test comes despite the Bank of England having raised interest rates fora fifth time in a row to 1.25% last week as part of efforts to tackle soaring inflation, meaning some mortgage borrowers could be in line for higher payments.

The Bank of England, which originally consulted on the changes in February, confirmed that it would scrap the affordability test after determining that other rules, including those that cap mortgages based on the income of borrowers, were “likely to play a stronger role” in guarding against an increase in household debt.

The central bank said in a statement that those other rules “ought to deliver the appropriate level of resilience to the UK financial system, but in a simpler, more predictable and more proportionate way”.

Experts said that while some might find the rule changes “baffling” in light of rising interest rates, the risks were relatively low, given the loan-to-income rules would remain in place.

“The timing of today’s announcement that the Bank of England is going to loosen its affordability rules is somewhat baffling and may enrage some who still have the financial crash burned into their memory,” said Gemma Harle, the managing director of Quilter Financial Planning. “With interest rates starting to creep up to meet the damaging impact