First-time buyers should sit mortgage exam

  Malcolm Hurlston of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service believes mortgages should come with a ‘caveat emptor' (buyer beware) warning, rather than a tax break like the current Stamp Duty concession. Addressing members of the credit industry this week, Hurlston maintained the least well-off and those people who buy a home before they are ready were the most likely to end up in the ‘trap' of unmanageable debt. "The people most likely to get into debt in Britain are those on low incomes who have wrongly or too soon embarked on homeownership," he says. "Think Northern Rock. Was...