§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proposals he has to discourage the mis-selling of mortgages. [95818]
§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the outcome of his meeting with mortgage lenders on Friday 29 October. [97504]
§ Mr. Byers[holding answer 28 October 1999]: On 29 October I held a mortgage summit with the major mortgage lenders, consumer groups and regulators to discuss what can be done to tackle consumers' concerns about mortgages. It was a constructive meeting. We addressed consumer concerns about redemption penalties, endowment mortgages, tying in of insurance and other products and when lenders credit the payments borrowers make. As a result I was able to announce that there is broad agreement that consumers should be given a cash figure about the level of penalty if they redeem a mortgage early. I have asked the summit players to meet me again before Christmas with detailed proposals to meet consumer concerns.
I am taking early action to ensure that consumers are able to make informed choices to get the right deal. I will be laying regulations later this month that will provide a standard method for calculating the Annual Percentage Rate (APR), and for the APR to show the total cost of the mortgage loan over its entire life.