Cap Rent-To-Own Lending Like Payday Loans, MPs Told

Charities have called for rent-to-own lending and other forms of high interest credit to have their charges capped.  The demand came as lenders and debt management charities were quizzed by MPs on the Treasury select committee as part of an investigation into household finances. Rent-to-own forms of borrowing, where a consumer might pay a weekly amount over time, in order to pay for a product were a serious problem for “very vulnerable” people, the charities warned. These forms of lending are used by half a million consumers each year. Rent-to-own often led the poorest customers to pay a much high premium for items, such as washing machines.  Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/02/28/cap-rent-to-own-lending-like-payday-loans-mps-told/

Buy-To-Let Measures Risk Damaging Whole Economy

The cross-party Commons Treasury Committee said that jobs, output and productivity could all suffer if a fall in the supply of privately rented homes led to a reduction in labour market mobility. The warning follows the Chancellor's announcement in last year's Autumn Statement that he was imposing a new stamp duty "surcharge" on buy-to-let properties from April as the Government sought to drive up home ownership. It came after Mr Osborne set out plans to restrict mortgage interest rate relief for landlords from 2017 in his Summer Budget following last year's general election. "Were the measures taken to curb buy-to-let to have a substantial effect, they would come at a cost to the wider economy," the committee said. Read more on the Express & Star website.