Mr. Stephen Mason:

If a mortgage is deemed unsustainable and the customer is co-operating with us, the first thing we do is see if we can make the mortgage-to-rent scheme work. We have been big supporters of the mortgage-to-rent scheme since it was launched. We have given feedback to this committee and others on how it could work better. We have done 59 mortgage-to-rent cases to date - I know the figure in the slide is 57, but we have done two more in the past couple of weeks and so we are up to 59. The last time we appeared before the committee in November 2016 it was 39, so the number is rising. The other banks combined have done a total of 46 mortgage-to-rent cases and we have done 59.

The Deputy asked what is happening with the others. A total of 19 are under contract and a further 30 or 40 are working their way through the process. In 111 cases the customer decided not to proceed. That is obviously the customer's choice. It could have been at an early stage or, as happened in many cases, at the very last hurdle that the customer decides not to proceed, but that is the customer's choice. In about 80 cases an approved housing body would not buy the property.