Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move, comments on the anniversary of the mortgage market review

“One year on, fears that the mortgage market review would freeze the housing market have proved to be overblown. We found that mortgage offer times shot up by 27% after the reforms, before slowly returning to normal.  Now that lenders and brokers have got to grips with the new rules, approval times are broadly the same as they were before the changes came in.

“Consumers were very frustrated by how long it took to get a mortgage approved immediately after the changes were introduced. But now, while some mortgage applicants might be surprised by the extra questions they get asked compared to their last mortgage, most people don’t notice that the process has changed.

“However, the mortgage market review has created some losers, notably the self-employed and older borrowers who in some cases have struggled to get mortgage applications approved. The tough affordability rules mean lenders need to be certain that borrowers can pay for the mortgage. It can be hard for older borrowers without evidence of their future retirement income or for self-employed people with irregular working patterns to prove they will be able to pay back the loan.”