EU plan for the Euro-mortgage

This is London ^ | 15 Dec 04 | Laura Brady,

[jb6]

THE European Commission (EC) is to unveil plans for a single European mortgage market by mid-2005, it has emerged. The proposals will centre around a universal set of homebuying criterion across the 25 EU member States. This will include mortgage financing, legal systems, credit assessment and consumer protection. Currently only 1% of European home owners have a mortgage with a different member state and that is usually to finance a second home. But the Forum Group on Mortgage Credit ? the arm of the EC that wrote the report ? wants to increase this number by bringing different countries' mortgages into line in terms of rules on early repayment fees and the calculation of 'real' interest rates. A move towards Europe would mean that UK homebuyers would benefit from the lower European Central Bank interest rate of 2%, compared with the current UK base rate 4.75%. The single market commissioner Charlie McCreevy said: 'This could mean cheaper and better loans for all Europeans, whether or not they obtain their mortgage abroad.'But the proposals have been met with scepticism in the UK. Richard Lishman, partner at IFA Dickson, Lishman, Prince said: 'A single market could be very tricky when it comes to the different legal systems. If someone builds a house next to you in Europe and wants an access road, the surrounding residents have to pay for it ? and that's just one example. It's a completely different system.'Lishman continued: 'A single market could happen but it would be a lot of hard work ? the last FSA regulation was messy enough. But there is not a lot of point worrying about it. If it does happen, by then most of us IFAs will be retired anyway.'

[wu_trax]

Common markets are always a good thing. That's the main point of the whole organization anyway.

[Brit_Guy]

If this works out I look forward to my interest payments cutting in half! At last.... something good the EU will have brought me!

[jb6]

Yes, but common markets is not much to do with a Federal European Super State, which is what the modern EU is all about.

[Mad Mammoth]

Lost another one to Di-Tech.

[wu_trax]

To have a Europe that is of any relevance in the world we need to get closer together. The worlds focus will shift from the Atlantic to the pacific anyway. If the EU remains a 3rd class debating club we wont get anywhere. Of course there is a lot of buro-crazy, but thats the only way it works.

And yes, the french are annoying, but if you people in UK would have read a little less in the sun and instead have gotten a little more involved in the whole project they would have much less of a say now. But now, with the larger EU, they are going to lose a lot of their influence anyway.