Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to provide financial support or compensation to homeowners who are mortgage prisoners with Northern Rock Asset Management.

We remain committed to supporting as many borrowers as possible with inactive lenders move to a cheaper deal. The government has worked with the FCA to implement rule changes to its mortgage lending rules, removing the regulatory barrier that prevented some customers, who otherwise may have been able to switch, from accessing new products. Inactive lenders have now started contacting borrowers who have been struggling to switch, setting out that options may be available for them on the active market. I will monitor the situation and hope to see even more options available over the coming months.

The FCA recently confirmed additional options to support borrowers, including making intragroup switching easier and extending the window in which interest-only borrowers coming to the end of their term can continue making interest payments, without paying down the capital. These modified rules came into force on 23 October 2020. More information can be found here: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-confirms-measures-support-closed-book-and-interest-only-part-and-part-mortgage-borrowers.

UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) – the owner of the Northern Rock Asset Management mortgage portfolio - has worked to help customers looking for a better deal with another lender by;

• waiving all early redemption charges;
• providing an online ‘Deal Finder’ tool which allows customers to search the market to find and compare mortgages from other lenders;
• partnering with Mortgage Force who have a panel of brokers who can give impartial, whole of market mortgage advice; and
• referring customers to specialist brokers, such as HUB Financial Solutions, where advice fees are waived.

It is also worth noting that Norther Rock Asset Management’s Standard Variable Rate (SVR) has always been set in line with the SVRs of active lenders.