It’s also especially important to be vigilant against backsliding and attempts to compromise the independence or dilute the diligence of regulation, especially when times start to get good. In terms of supervisory capability and approach, it was clear that supervision was underresourced in a range of areas and therefore staffing levels have necessarily increased in the last few years.
This seems to be largely due to the fact that many borrowers are repaying existing loans; since 2013, mortgage repayments have totalled around € billion. This has been driven by low interest rates and a gift tax exemption for home purchases. But even when we take this into account, mortgage lending is still growing more slowly than house prices.