In a recent analysis published within the Bank of England’s Quarterly Bulletin, the notion that lenders are charging a markup on loans and mortgages surfaced, which is much higher now than before the financial crisis. It suggests banks are "cleaning up" by making excessive profits off such products. Critics are blasting the industry for being unfair to a community of people struggling with the same financial crisis as everyone else. Economists are warning these institutions that by charging excess, they are just stifling the borrowers’ attempts to come through recovery faster, and get back to normal economic times.

The recently released data follows a survey completed within the last two months regarding mortgage cost. The mortgage survey revealed homeowners are paying 1,700 more pounds per year for a fixed rate mortgage, than they would on the same deal in pre-financial crisis days. This overpayment is despite the Bank’s record low base rate of 0.5 per cent.

The director of independent mortgage broker Private Finance, Melanie Bien, commented on how homeowners would feel knowing these findings, saying: "While mortgage rates have come down lenders are making more profit margin. Strong banks are ultimately good for the economy – they don’t have to go cap in hand to the taxpayer. But if you are a borrower you will be bemused if not a bit annoyed by it. Why are you not getting a cheaper mortgage rate?"

The Bank did not go so far as to criticize banks for these excess charges, although did acknowledge that extra markup on loans is a correcting measure to try and repair balance sheets from the damage done during the crisis.