FCA Publishes Mortgages Market Study Final Report

The FCA published its final report on its Mortgages Market Study (MS16/2.3) on 26th March 2019.

This marks the conclusion of the study which originally kicked off in December 2016.  The study itself has focused on first-charge residential mortgages, in particular consumers’ ability to make effective choices and conflicts of interest between firms due to the commercial arrangements they have in place.

The study has positives and negatives.  The FCA does believe that the market is working well in some respects  but notes that the negatives remain in relation to the inability of some customers to switch from high price mortgage deals and the lack of tools available for consumers to find the right mortgage deal in the first place.

The FCA has set out some commitments to address these issues including removing potential barriers to facilitate switching and also to work with industry to help support innovation in the industry.

A further consultation paper is expected in the summer.