The Treasury came under heavy fire yesterday for allowing Northern Rock to continue to extend 125 per cent mortgages long after the bank was forced to seek Government help, writes The Times.
A National Audit Office report criticised Northern Rock for continuing the use of controversial mortgages, under which customers could borrow up to 25 per cent more than the value of the property they were buying, after the Government rescue. After the bailout in September 2007, Rock lent a further £800 million to thousands of borrowers through its Together mortgages, many of which have subsequently gone bad, with many more borrowers falling into arrears or being repossessed. Rock finally closed Together to new borrowers in February last year when it was nationalised. While approving th...
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