It should also be remembered that households still have the possibility of borrowing large amounts to finance housing purchases. I consider that it is therefore somewhat misleading to claim that certain groups have been completely ‘excluded’ from the housing market due to the amortisation requirements. As far as newly built homes go, these are exempt from the amortisation requirements and it is up to individual banks to decide whether their customer’s credit  23 European Commission (2019). 24  Finansinspektionen (2019). 25 See also Cunliffe (2019) for similar results in the United Kingdom. 8 [13]  rating makes additional amortisation necessary. Consequently, the amortisation requirements, at present, should benefit newly built tenant-owned apartments. The aim of the macroprudential policy measures is to strengthen households’ long-term resilience in two ways: by ensuring that they do not borrow excessive amounts in relation to their incomes or the value of their homes, and to encourage households to create buffers by gradually amortising their loans. High stress rates in the calculations made by the banks to estimate households’ ability to repay loans are, in turn, aimed at ensuring that the households will be able to cope with a significantly higher level of interest rates than prevails at present. 26 If a household fails the credit assessment, it is conceivable that the household will have to increase the proportion of capital it invests, borrow less and/or purchase a cheaper home.
16 It becomes difficult to attract labour to the major cities when it is impossible to find a home for a reasonable price. 17 I am concerned about this social development, as it is creating problems for economic growth and economic distribution, and is increasing the likelihood of financial crises. It is of great importance that reforms are carried out to slow this development down. Measures affecting all mortgage borrowers are absent Like the Riksbank, Finansinspektionen has drawn attention to households’ high indebtedness and has taken measures to reduce the risks and increase resilience among households. This has also contributed towards slowing down price growth for housing, although this was not the primary purpose of the measures. 18 However, these macroprudential policy measures, such as a loan-to-value limit and amortisation requirements, are only aimed at new borrowers. Consequently, they mainly affect the conditions for the people I refer to as outsiders and, to some extent, could make it more difficult for them to enter the housing market. 19 On the other hand, there are few measures affecting the stock of already existing loans, which means that the new rules affect insiders and outsiders differently. In a study, the Riksbank has demonstrated that an amortisation requirement aimed at all borrowers could reduce household debt over the long run and that this would also mean a redistribution of resources from lenders to borrowers.