When will the government sell Northern Rock?
Despite assurances about Northern Rock will not be run any differently to commercial banks in the UK it seems as though an increase in repossession numbers, far and above the sector average, would indicate a possible change of government strategy. There are concerns that those now in control of the bank are looking to reduce the number of mortgage defaults simply by repossessing homes at risk, dumping them on the open market, and raising as much money as possible to repay tax payer loans.
However, at this rate there is every chance that once the taxpayer loan (or as much possible) has been repaid that there will literally be no business to sell on. While not seen as official policy, there has always been a suspicion that the bank was actually being wound down. In many ways the government is in a no win situation as failure to repay the loan would incur the wrath of taxpayers and an overzealous policy with regards to those in mortgage default would also attract unwelcome headlines.
Even though the authorities had little choice but to take control of Northern Rock it will continue to be a serious headache for the government for some time to come.
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