Scrutineer: Homing in on real blame

WHILE it was hardly the hand wringing or contrition which marked the recent bank reporting season, there are signs that the housing sector is also swallowing its pride and accepting that some of its own problems are of its own making.

It has become clear that some of the smaller British banks, most notably Northern Rock, but also Bradford & Bingley and even Alliance & Leicester, were so geared for growth, so dependent on giving out more and more mortgages, that they simply could n...