Regulator Measures and Lending Standards

risk: The tightening of lending standards during the year-long inquiry and on the back of regulator measures is not expected to accelerate due to the final report, reducing the risk of a credit squeeze, according to Nine News Australia. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne QC has previously made it clear he expected banks to do more to verify customers' income and their actual living expenses in assessing loans amid an over-reliance on using a household expenditure measure benchmark. To improve your experience update it here News National Hard to get a loan but it won't get harder By AAP4 46pm Feb 5, scrutiny of home buyers' expenses and income is set to stay, but at least the banking royal commission's final report will not make getting a mortgage even harder. But he decided not to tighten lending laws or impose a cap or ban on the use of the benchmark, pointing to the steps banks have taken to strengthen their home lending practices and reduce their reliance on the HEM. Core Logic head of research Tim Lawless and research analyst Cameron Kusher said the final report was nowhere near as severe as expected. The tight credit environment, which has been the primary driver of less housing market activity and weakening home values, looks set to stay but not worsen. There were no additional recommendations that borrower credit assessment should be tightened further, and perhaps surprisingly, the HEM hasn't been ruled out as a valid benchmark for assessing borrower expenses, implying credit availability is not likely to worsen any further, they said. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.