{"id":12116,"date":"2025-07-09T13:57:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T12:57:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/?p=12116"},"modified":"2025-07-09T13:57:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T12:57:15","slug":"should-mortgage-rules-be-more-flexible-to-help-first-time-buyers-and-the-self-employed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/should-mortgage-rules-be-more-flexible-to-help-first-time-buyers-and-the-self-employed\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Mortgage Rules Be More Flexible to Help First-Time Buyers and the Self-Employed?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><span style=\"color: #618899;\"><strong>The financial watchdog is asking whether mortgage rules should be more flexible to help older buyers, the self-employed and reliable renters get on the property ladder.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>UK society has changed dramatically over the past decade.<\/p>\n<p>There have been huge shifts in the way Brits live and work and when they retire.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, property prices have grown faster than wages, impacting affordability.<\/p>\n<p>But has the mortgage landscape kept pace with this transformation?<\/p>\n<p>Or should more be done to boost access to home ownership?<\/p>\n<p>The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) \u2013 the financial regulator that sets the rules lenders must abide by \u2013 has launched a review to find out.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s asking anyone with an interest in the mortgage market to fill out a wide-ranging survey (there are 37 questions in all) by September 19.<\/p>\n<p>Questions touch on issues such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Should it be easier to access lifetime mortgages?<\/li>\n<li>What changes would help the self-employed?<\/li>\n<li>Should the mortgage stress test be changed?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #bda762;\"><strong>Some would-be buyers feel shut out<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Some sections of society feel that the current mortgage rules are too inflexible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Entrepreneurs and freelancers<\/strong>: Getting a mortgage can be more challenging if you\u2019re one of Britain\u2019s 4.4 million self-employed, especially if you\u2019re not buying with someone who has a permanent salary.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Older first-time buyers<\/strong>: Property prices mean that many people can\u2019t afford to get on the housing ladder until later in life. However, due their age, lenders may only be willing to give them a mortgage over a reduced time frame. This pushes repayments up, sometimes making them unaffordable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reliable renters<\/strong>: Some renters feel stuck between a rock and a hard place. Even though they have a steady income and good rental track record (and could meet monthly mortgage repayments), they can\u2019t save enough for a deposit.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #bda762;\"><strong>Finding the right balance<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The UK currently has stricter mortgage rules for good reason: to prevent risky lending practices, protect borrowers and ensure market stability.<\/p>\n<p>So any future changes must be sustainable (the 2008 financial crisis is still fresh in many people\u2019s minds).<\/p>\n<p>The FCA says: \u201cWe want a well-functioning mortgage market where all borrowers who can afford to repay can access the mortgages they need.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis means enabling firms to offer products which are better tailored to consumers\u2019 needs, while continuing to help ensure a sustainable mortgage market which maintains the core lessons from the 2008 crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #bda762;\"><strong>Have your say<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If this is a subject close to your heart, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/4a8bdjss\">https:\/\/tinyurl.com\/4a8bdjss<\/a> and complete the online response form.<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #618899;\"><strong>If you\u2019re a first-time buyer looking to get on the market, contact us today.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Know someone who would find this article helpful? Please send it to them.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The financial watchdog is asking whether mortgage rules should be more flexible to help older buyers, the self-employed and reliable renters get on the property ladder. UK society has changed dramatically over the past decade. There have been huge shifts in the way Brits live and work and when they retire. Meanwhile, property prices have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":12117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,1],"tags":[8,25],"class_list":["post-12116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advice-for-sellers","category-moving-home-advice-and-guidance","tag-advice","tag-jerry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12116"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12118,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12116\/revisions\/12118"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.craneandco.co.uk\/pages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}