Question: When the chancellor said the UK was not ready to join the single currency, he said a primary reason for this was that there was a lack of structural convergence between Britain and Europe's housing and housing finance system. What was your response?

Michael Coogan:We weren't surprised that the housing market was seen as a potential area of risk. The UK consumer typically has a variable rate mortgage and if we ceded control of monetary policy to Europe, then variable rates may not be as appropriate for the UK circumstances - interest rates may go up regardless of the economic climate in the UK.

We were however surprised that the market was seen as the cause of the boom bust cycle of the last 50 years, because many of those issues may have been caused by political and other economic failures.

Home-ownership is a core part of a person's approach to finances and housing is a regular discussion point over dinner. So it wasn't a surprise it was featured.

Clearly the announcement raised as much of a question as a criticism that the UK doesn't have a long term fixed rate mortgage market, and comparisons are being made with other countries where that that type of market exists.

So we welcome the review by David Miles. It will help to reinforce the fact that the UK mortgage market is actually one of the most competitive in the world.

The absence of 25-year fixed rate mortgages is more a sign of lack of consumer demand for that type of product, rather than a market failure.

Question: Have you made a submission to the Miles Review?

Michael Coogan:We have made a detailed response.

But the key point, if the government is concerned about volatility in the housing market, is that this is particularly characterised by house price increases. And the reason that house prices increase in the way that they do is primarily a failure of housing supply to match demand.

So the separate review which the government has launched with Kate Barker to look at housing supply and improving that in the future, is really the key issue to resolve if we are to improve the housing market and reduce volatility.

In terms of the fixed rate mortgage market, our response highlights the fact that fixed rates do increase in popularity if the costs fall, compared to variable rates. We've seen that in recent months.

But it is a highly sensitive market where consumers are looking in the short term to keep their costs low. There isn't much demand even when lenders launch products which have a fixed rate for ten years or longer. Consumers do not want to take them out because they cost too much and the risk of redemption charges are too high.

To the average house-buyer there seems to be numerous surveys out every month on the state of the housing market. Is there a danger of house buyers being overloaded with information?

We live in an environment where there are more pages to fill in the media. There are more websites to fill with articles and housing is, as I have said, a core interest to readers because 70 per cent of them are home-owners.

In terms of house prices, we've had the launch of the ODPM house prices index in September and that is trying to draw together a number of the different sources of information. We've also lenders. Halifax and Nationwide, offering indices of current month figures and they also provide an indication of where the market is going.

I think one of the things that we are looking to overcome is the differences between the different indices. It's difficult sometimes to draw a definitive conclusion because they seem to say different things in a particular month although over a period of time they do tend to track each other.

The MPC is looking to improve its knowledge of the housing market and wants to be able to have a clearer picture than in the past. The ODPM's initiative is part of the process to get more clarity.

Question:What should be done to cut the length of time it takes to actually buy a property in the UK?

Michael Coogan:One of the things that we have been strongly supportive of is the move to using technology to improve the house buying process.

We have strongly backed the efforts of the government and the Land Registry to improve the system and to introduce the facility for paperless transactions. We want house buyers to have access to a National Land Information Service that has all the information about property readily available electronically. This in itself brings down the time taken to collate information, and actually process the transaction.

What the government is looking to do is to introduce a Housing Bill which moves the collection of information up front via home information packs. We've been clear that we want to make sure that people understand what they are buying and that the process runs smoothly. However, we haven't been convinced that home information packs will actually help buyers.

We are concerned about a number of issues that remain unresolved - such as, who will be producing the packs, what will be their competence level, an dare there enough inspectors to produce reports. At the moment, the government is carrying out a pilot to see how the packs work in the market place.

Another concern is, if the packs are produced by estate agents, at the moment they aren't licensed. They need to be to ensure that consumer protection is in place. Consumers need access to redress if something goes wrong.

The ODPM Select Committee has re-emphasised in their recent report that some of these concerns are real and have highlighted that they need to be resolved by the government. We welcome that recognition.

Clearly the Housing Bill is one of the things the government is looking to take forward and, if they introduce it in the next parliamentary session, we will continue to debate with Ministers how to resolve the issues we have flagged up.

In the meantime, more can be done to improve the house buying process through technology. In terms of the lending part of the process, we as an industry are already taking our role seriously. For example, the time it takes to get a mortgage offer can be minutes now whereas it used to be days.

Question: The new FSA mortgage rules come in from October 2004. What effect will they have and do you welcome them?

Michael Coogan:We were one of the organisations that called for a single regulator for financial services. We have a hugely successful voluntary code, operated by the Mortgage Code Compliance Board. But, for the long term and to underpin consumer confidence in the market, we have supported the FSA taking on this responsibility next year.

We welcomed the way in which they have been responsive to concerns in the consultation process and by and large we are expecting a structure that will be balanced and proportionate - that will regulate the industry where it needs to but will have a light touch in other areas.

So that's positive news.

One of the questions which remains unresolved is how far will the market structure change, if at all, as a result of statutory legislation rather than voluntary regulation. We have concerns that there should be minimal structural change in the market because we don't think regulation should change the market - commercial practices should change markets.

In that context, we don't think there will be an impact on the lending sector - we think the lenders will be able to adapt relatively straightforwardly. But there is a question mark for the intermediary sector - how many of them will get direct authorisation for the future, and how many intermediaries will seek to become appointed representatives of other firms rather than directly authorised.

Its important we have a vibrant sector to give advice to customers who need it, and we hope that the impact on market structure will be modest.

Until people start applying for authorisation next year, no one really knows.