AMI briefs Cable and calls for government guarantees

AMI has prepared a parliamentary briefing for Cable ahead of his Westminster Hall Debate on home repossessions today

Chris Cummings, Director General of AMI, said: "AMI has expressed its concern to Vince Cable that it is taking too long to see real results concerning arrears and repossessions. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has estimated that the number of repossessions will jump by 67 per cent on this year's figure of about 45,000, to 75,000. This is a level not seen since the depths of Britain's last recession in 1991.

"These figures are based on the Government's ‘remedies' actually working. The outlook could be even more dire if effective measures for the mortgage market are not implemented immediately. "

Chris added: "We think it is of crucial importance that Sir James Crosby's recommendations for temporary guaranteed securitisation are implemented as soon as possible by the Government. We agree with his comments that ‘unless and until banks get access to attractively priced sources of funding the shortage of mortgage finance will endure'. AAA mortgage backed securities are still relatively safe and could actually be profitable for the Government, but the cost of funding these instruments would be attractive to all banks so there would be no stigma in using them. "