Mortgage holders who use SRB scheme 'need protecting'

01 October 2009

Written by Gavin Elley

The sale and rent back (SRB) scheme - which allows mortgage holders to sell their property but carry on living there - is a good concept, but needs further regulation.

At least that is the view of the director of financial services company MyMortgageDirect, Catherine Hearnden, who has claimed that consumers involved with this initiative need more protection than is currently provided.

Some consumers are ripped off when opting for SRB programmes, she explained.

Ms Hearnden added: "I'm not sure whether it [should be] a Financial Services Authority (FSA) thing or whether it should just be consumer protection but they certainly need some sort of protection."

Last month, the FSA announced new measures regarding the SRB scheme, which have been designed to protect the most vulnerable consumers.

Emotive terms like "mortgage rescue" and "fast sale" will be prohibited when promoting SRB from next summer, while companies marketing the programme will have to give customers a cooling off period so they can make unpressurised decisions.

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