So what can be done? Mr Boulger suggests those affected obtain independent advice to see what they can do. The market is more competitive now and there may be more options available. Where that is not the case, it may be that they simply need to sell up.
Mr Sinclair suggests that any decision to reinterpret the rules in favour of the borrowers is likely to be met with a barrage of lawyers looking to oppose such a decision.
But it should also be noted that the FCA’s mortgages market study identified around 120,000 mortgage prisoners whose loans had been sold to firms not authorised for lending – that is, companies that have no other products to which borrowers can remortgage. It has promised to explore what can be done to identify and help them.
