Is scrapping a mortgage stress test a wise move right now?

A mortgage stress test designed to stop borrowers overstretching themselves will be scrapped, it was revealed this week. The mortgage industry has long bemoaned this supposedly unrealistic test that makes lenders check if borrowers can afford their repayments at a level higher than the fix or tracker deal they may be taking, their lender's standard variable rate plus 3 per cent. Yet, isn't a bit of an odd time to finally get rid of this, just as interest rates are finally rising and the base rate has jumped from 0.1 per cent to 1.25 per cent in six months? What's more, it's forecast by some to keep rising and go as high as 3 per cent by the end of the year - meaning almost that entire 3 percentage point rise the stress test uses. On this podcast, Georgie Frost, Simon Lambert and Lee Boyce discuss why the Bank of England is doing this and whether it is the right move, or could lead to risky lending and even higher house prices? Also, on this episode the team discuss inflation and how to at least try to do something to combat it with your savings - and also why investors are finding it so hard to buy the dip and be greedy when others are fearful in the inflation storm. The renewed fervour for offering bumper deals on current accounts also goes under the microscope, but is a bung to join, an interest rate on your balance, or the ability to categorise your spending the best readon to switch? And finally, you live in an end of terrace house, someone wants to build next door using your wall and making your home a mid-terrace, surely that couldn't be allowed? Or would it? Listen to the end to find out.

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