Fixed rate mortgages for all? – The Chancellor turns mortgage salesman

Today I learn that the Chancellor has become a mortgage salesman again. He is lecturing us to take long term mortgages at fixed rates. Has no-one reminded him that his government has made mortgage selling a regulated activity? I doubt if the Chancellor has bothered to fix himself up with the necessary regulatory approvals to start selling the fixed rate proposition so actively.

Is he aware that mortgage salesmen need to know their client? Does he grasp at all that long term fixed rate mortgages may work out dearer for some people? They do not make much sense if you plan to move on and repay the mortgage in a relatively short time period. The relative cost of floating rate and fixed rate mortgages can vary sharply as interest rates change. In a period of falling interest rates – which many think we are now in – locking yourself into a fixed rate mortgage may not be a good idea.

I hasten to add I am not a regulated mortgage salesman either, so anyone needing a new or different mortgage should go to a professional to seek advice geared to their own circumstances. This site general views and comments, but avoids individual advice on savings, borrowings and investments as these do require professional (and regulated) advice based on knowledge of the individual’s circumstances.

I find it extraordinary that our Chancellor is making this further foray into the world of lending and borrowing, after his last disastrous one just before the run on Northern Rock. Regular readers of this site will recall that I was very critical of his famous speech about how lending institutions had behaved irresponsibly, and would not in the UK be bailed out. His resolution to avoid helping the banks lasted but a few hectic days, before he bowed to the need to guarantee all deposits in all banks under pressure in UK jurisdiction!

He should also remember that as the taxpayer’s representative and principal bank manager to Northern Rock he is no longer above the fray on mortgage bank products. I just hope he has remembered to ask the management of Northern Rock to make sure they have plenty of the types of mortgages he favours available for their customers, before journalists come asking difficult questions about that.

On second thoughts, isn’t the government’s close involvement with a mortgage bank another very good reason why the Chancellor should have said nothing about mortgages to avoid any conflict of interest?

The main reason he seems to be offering us his thoughts is fear. He is afraid there will be a sharp fall in house prices. He does not seem to understand that it is in a way government policy to try to bring house prices down, as they are constantly telling us housing is not affordable and needs to become more affordable. He hopes that if more people take out fixed rate mortgages, more people will be able to pay the mortgage through difficult times. The only thing to be said about that is, at least he realises he is presiding over tricky times. Maybe spending a bit more time thinking about how to unstick them would be a better way to proceed. Lower interest rates will help. Lower interest rates make fixed rates a worse deal!