Why campaigners are right to express fury over mortgage prisoners' plight: Greg Wright

In particular, campaigners were keen to highlight the costed solutions outlined in a report, which was commissioned by MoneySavingExpert.com and funded by a private donation of almost £60,000 by consumer champion Martin Lewis, which aimed to ease the plight of Britain’s mortgage prisoners. Mortgage prisoners are home loan borrowers who have been trapped on high rates since the 2008 crisis. Many have loans that were sold by the state to 'closed book' inactive lenders, making it difficult for them to move to cheaper rates.

The 2023 report put forward a number of possible solutions that would help prisoners eventually remortgage with active lenders, such as the provision of interest-free equity loans to clear the unsecured element of Northern Rock's 'Together' loans and Government equity loans on the model of Help to Buy, which would be interest-free for the first five years.

Mr Lewis said at the time of the report’s launch: "This report lays out starkly that the state sold these borrowers into poverty, knowing it could cause them harm, and made billions doing it. The result has destroyed lives.”

Armed with this report, MPs and campaigners were hoping for a constructive Government response. When the response came from Mr Afolami – two months after his initial meeting with the campaigners – it caused “immense anger”, according to the UK Mortgage Prisoners Action Group.

In his letter, Mr Afolami said that, although he was unable to go beyond the significant regulatory flexibilities already introduced to support mortgage prisoners, the Government would retain its long-standing commitment to examine this issue. Last month, a spokesman told me that the Government understands the difficulties faced by borrowers who were unable to switch to a new mortgage deal.

In response, it has updated mortgage lending rules, removed the barrier that prevented some mortgage prisoners from being able to switch, and introduced significant financial and legal protections for those most in difficulty.

The spokesman added: “We continue to work with the Financial Conduct Authority and the sector on this issue and will carefully consider practical and proportionate solutions put forward.”

Mortgage prisoners want a little less conversation and a lot more action. The living hell of being unable to escape unaffordable mortgages is wrecking the finances and mental health of thousands of people. The report, funded and endorsed by Mr Lewis, must not gather dust. The Sunak administration’s failure to act on the report’s constructive, painstakingly researched, proposals casts a cloud over its reputation.

Greg Wright is the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post