How do we ensure responsible lending and borrowing?

This project follows on from our previous research on responsible lending and borrowing, which focused on consumer credit for low-to-moderate income individuals.  This new project is designed to create greater impact from the research due to unexpected regulatory reforms to consumer credit and welfare, which have impacted on the consumer credit landscape.

This project is led by Karen Rowlingson, Lindsey Appleyard and Tom Sorell.

We will work with lenders of affordable credit, specifically the UK Credit Union sector, ABCUL, ACE and Birmingham-based Citysave Credit Union to develop innovative and creative strategies for improving the level of responsible lending through:

• workshops at UK Credit Union conferences - we will co-produce materials based on our research findings in order for them to understand and support responsible borrowing amongst their members for longer-term impact beyond the project.
• supporting Credit Union staff and board member training in the challenges for responsible lending and borrowing within the broader credit landscape.
• facilitating knowledge exchange events on responsible lending and borrowing for key regulators, practitioners, and policymakers within responsible credit in the Australian and UK context to share experiences of consumer credit regulatory reform, and facilitating access to affordable credit for low to moderate income communities.

This project is therefore extremely timely and relevant to challenge public debates on responsible lending and borrowing.

The project will feed into these debates via the Credit Union network and key stakeholders within the lending and borrowing space, particularly policymakers and regulators which will make a significant impact upon credit union members and borrowers.

In May 2017 CHASM hosted an event which focused on responsible lending and the lessons we can learn from Australia. You can view a summary of the event in the video below. 

The project is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. 

Here is our January 2017 response to the Financial Conduct Authority’s Call for Input: High-cost credit, including review of the high-cost short-term credit price cap. 

The July 2017 edition of our CHASM Briefing paper series focused on responsible lending and the insights we can gain from Australian finance sector. This was written by Gerard Brody, Chief Executive Officer of the Consumer Action Law Centre in Australia.