, Columnist
Britain's Fat and Happy Housebuilders
Help to Buy has been a bonanza for the housebuilders. Time for companies to dip into their own pockets.
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Ten years after risky mortgages helped spark a global financial crisis, lenders and policymakers have lost none of their talent for helping people make big-ticket purchases they couldn’t otherwise afford.
True, 100 percent mortgages are rare now, let alone the 125 percent loan-to-value deals offered by Northern Rock. Fibbing about your income to get a loan is more difficult, though not impossible as Banco Santander SA has found.