Plans to lower the cost of borrowing for poorer customers do not go far enough

Campaigners say proposals to lower the costs of borrowing to help poorer customers, announced yesterday, have not gone far enough.

The National Housing Federation said it was disappointed that the Competition Commission plans had not included a cap on “extortionate” interest rates and fees charged by some doorstep lenders.

Federation chief executive David Orr said: “The commission has already found that doorstep lenders are overcharging customers by as much as £25 for an average loan. It’s ridiculous that these companies can name their price when lending to the poorest families and it needs to stop.”

Following an inquiry into home credit, the commission is to introduce a number of measures to increase competition to help lower prices.

These include requiring lenders to share data on customers’ payment records with other lenders and to publish their prices on a website so consumers can compare them.