History Rewrite at Northern Rock.

Interesting comment reported on the BBC website this morning.

Gary Hoffman is quoted as saying (about the resumption of lending):  "We can now return to what we do well - mortgage lending."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was their mortgage lending policies and practices that got them into the mess in the first instance.  By what yardstick can it be said that they do mortgage lending well...?

Hopefully, their definition of 'doing well' won't include lending 125% of the value of a property this time, nor the huge salary multipliers we've seen in the past.  Mind you, if they don't continue with those policies, it's hard to see how they'll be able to shift so much money into the hands of borrowers.  Even those who took out a mortgage with an 85% LTV 12 months ago are now either in, or close to, negative equity.  With the housing market due to worsen still more, the number of borrowers left that will be able to meet the sensible LTV ratios must be shrinking apace...