The European Mortgage Credit Directive (MCD) needs to be fully implemented in just over one year, by March 2016. Most of the MCD provisions are concerned with setting the minimum regulatory requirements that member states are required to meet in order to protect consumers taking out credit agreements relating to residential property.

This obviously includes residential mortgages secured against the borrower's home but also any other lending where the purpose is to acquire or retain property rights. The UK already has its own regulatory regime under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA), the independent regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This regulatory framework has been in place in the UK since 2004, and gives the FCA powers to regulate mortgage activity, and act upon poor practices where they emerge.

For this reason, the UK government does not believe that the MCD offers many benefits to UK consumers beyond those already provided by the existing FCA regime for mortgages.