Children as young as 10 have suffered anxiety due to mortgage prisoners scandal - Greg Wright

WHEN a family plummets into a financial crisis, it is the children who often carry the heaviest emotional burden, usually in silence.
The Mortgage Prisoners’ report, based on data collected prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, shines the spotlight on children who are growing up in a household under intense financial strain.The Mortgage Prisoners’ report, based on data collected prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, shines the spotlight on children who are growing up in a household under intense financial strain.
The Mortgage Prisoners’ report, based on data collected prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, shines the spotlight on children who are growing up in a household under intense financial strain.

A new report reveals that children as young as 10 have suffered from anxiety due to a scandal which has caused misery for thousands of honest people.

Mortgage prisoners are trapped with their current lenders, which are often inactive or not authorised to offer new products, leaving many paying higher rates than they would otherwise need to. They are often rejected when they apply for cheaper mortgages because they do not meet toughened borrowing criteria brought in after the 2008 financial crash, even if they are keeping up with repayments.

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To quote the latest report from the Mortgage Prisoners’ campaign group: “Mortgage prisoners have paid for the iniquity of the banks after the global financial crash of 2008. While bankers were bailed out, mortgage holders were sold out and, ultimately, had their mortgage rates hiked and sold off to inactive vulture funds who are not regulated and do not pay tax in the UK.”

A separate report by the London School of Economics (LSE), funded by consumer champion Martin Lewis, concluded that mortgage prisoners are blameless and the Government has a moral duty to intervene.A separate report by the London School of Economics (LSE), funded by consumer champion Martin Lewis, concluded that mortgage prisoners are blameless and the Government has a moral duty to intervene.
A separate report by the London School of Economics (LSE), funded by consumer champion Martin Lewis, concluded that mortgage prisoners are blameless and the Government has a moral duty to intervene.

The new study - Hidden Voices: Growing up as the Child of a Mortgage Prisoner - calls on the Government to act now. A separate report by the London School of Economics (LSE), funded by consumer champion Martin Lewis, concluded that mortgage prisoners are blameless and the Government has a moral duty to intervene.

The Mortgage Prisoners’ report, based on data collected prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, shines the spotlight on children who are growing up in a household under intense financial strain.

The report said; “Due to some concerning information received from these respondents – such as anxiety, depression, and self-harm – relating to children as young as 10 years old, UK Mortgage Prisoners have begun to liaise with children’s mental health charities.

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The majority of mortgage prisoners who responded to the study were experiencing significant levels of financial hardship.

According to the report, 89 per cent were either just about managing to make mortgage payments or were getting into debt in order to pay them.

The report said: “These financial hardships are likely to have contributed to poor mental health and, in the most worrying of cases, suicidal thoughts.

“Children and young people were acutely aware of their parents’ struggles which left some of them feeling responsible for ensuring that what should have been positive transitions into adulthood would not leave their parents financially worse off.”

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The report calls on the Government to implement a number of proposals to ease the plight of mortgage prisoners, including imposing the proposed Cap on SVR (standard variable rate) on closed book mortgages which it claims will give immediate cash flow relief to thousands of families.

A man, who is now 26, told the report: “The stress my parents went through with us growing up has had a massive impact not only on myself but on my sister...My parents were also depressed because of all this and I feel the relationship I had with my parents was deeply impacted by the stress they were under to stay afloat.”

Another respondent, a man who is now also aged 26, said: “When you live in a household with depressed parents it rubs off on you and sometimes subconsciously, they take their anxiety, depression and stress out on you. I understand now that it was never their fault.. I can just imagine what it’s like being stuck in an awful financial situation and explaining to your kids why they can’t do or have the other things kids have and do.”

A Treasury spokesperson said: "We know that being unable to switch your mortgage can be incredibly difficult. Thousands of borrowers will now find it easier to switch to an active lender or continue interest only payments thanks to recent rule changes by the Financial Conduct Authority – and we have been working closely with the industry to ensure firms are helping those who are eligible to switch.”

Every Cabinet minister should read the Mortgage Prisoners’ report. It might make them question whether enough is being done to protect the forgotten victims of the financial crash.