On 30 September 2019, the PRA and FCA jointly published Policy Statement FCA – 19/23 PRA – 22/19: changes to mortgage reporting requirements (the Policy Statement). The Policy Statement follows an earlier joint PRA / FCA Consultation paper where the regulators proposed new reporting requirements which would apply to regulated mortgage lenders and home finance administrators.

The regulators report in the Policy Statement that respondents supported its proposals and they are implementing them broadly as consulted on. However, the regulators have made several changes of detail due to the feedback received. For the performance data report (PSD007), they are introducing data items which will give them a clear understanding of how mortgage books are held. They are also making changes to clarify and simplify the intended content. For the sales data report (PSD001), the regulators have changed some of the data fields to clarify the intended content and have reduced the number of data fields which need to be completed for internal product transfers. An additional field has also been added about the rates used for affordability tests where firms have ‘stepped rate’ products. Minor consequential changes to the guidance notes and a date field label on the Mortgage Lender and Administration Return (MLAR) have also been made to PSD001.

Following their joint consultation the regulators will also be extending the implementation time for PSD001 changes to 18 months. Implementation timeframes for PSD007 and MLAR changes are 12 months as originally proposed.

The FCA plans to publish the technical documents (Data Reference Guide) in October 2019 and give firms access to the FCA’s reporting system (GABRIEL) test environment from November 2019. Firms which do not already have access can request it via the FCA contact centre.