Senior bank and real estate industry officials in Britain who have seen their business hurt by strict new capital requirements have come out with a report recommending seven reforms they say would help loosen up credit while still protecting lenders from overextending themselves and creating real estate bubbles.
The report by the Real Estate Finance Group proposes that lenders use long-term loan-to-value ratios that take into account the average value of a property through the market cycle, for example.
“We need ‘right touch’ regulation fit for all stages of the cycle, rather than ‘light touch’ as the market rises followed by ‘heavy handed’ after a crash,” said REFG Chairman Nick Scarles. Source: reuters.com