The Independent: Our mortgage free-for-all opened the door to crime

The news that the City of London Police made nine arrests last week over an estimated £40m mortgage fraud came as no surprise. I won't comment on the case – and all those arrested have now been released on bail – but it tells a tale of the times we have just lived through.
The housing market from around 2003 onwards was almost entirely supported by mortgage expansion. Len-ders and brokers were desperate to keep writing business and hitting their targets, so they would think of ever more sketchy ways to go about things. From "drive by" valuations to the notorious 125 per cent mortgage, it was a time of immense greed with the moral compass of the Wild West. And for fraudsters, there is no better "mark" than a greedy individual or company.