The European Bausparkassen welcome the result of the vote on the Mortgage Credit Directive

The European Bausparkassen welcome the result of the vote on the Mortgage Credit Directive this morning.  The  leading  Economic  and  Monetary  Affairs  Committee  (ECON)  of  the  European Parliament  refrained  from  harmful  overregulation  of  the  EU  mortgage  markets.  „National  special features  of  the  mortgage  markets  that  have  proven  well  within  the  financial  crisis,  have  been respected“,  praises  Andreas  J.  Zehnder,  Managing  Director  of  the  European  Federation  of Building Societies.
 
We welcome that former ideas to create 27 national registers for mortgages have been given up. In  combination  with  the proposed  right  to  cancel  the  credit  contract  and  switch  to  a  competitor, this  would  have  led  to  a  wide  take-over  of  loan  portfolios.  Especially,  smaller  regional  markets
would get into a precarious situation.
 
Long term mortgage credit agreements with low fixed interest rate conditions can still be offered after  the  voting  of  today  without  modification.  “By  this  vote  the  Members  of  the  European Parliament support the consumer’s request for a stable and reliable basis of calculation, explained Mr. Zehnder.  The  Committee  has  at the  same  time  introduced  by its  vote  provisions increasing consumer protection in the area of foreign currency lending and variable interest rate loans, which was absolutely necessary.
 
„With this vote the Parliament found a well balanced approach between stability requirements and consumer  protection,”  explains Zehnder.  The  Members  of the  European  Parliament  also  found  a convincing answer to some of the housing finance problems occurring in some EU Member States.