Should local councils be doing more to stop payday lending in their area?

bigadaj

It's a. Complex subject but it's possible to impose maximum rates or fees and teh consequences will vary.

It's a similar argument to drugs really, if people are stupid and act against their long term interest the law rapidly becomes irrelevant.

We've become accustomed to some drugs being illegal and others legal, in my opinion tobacco and probably alcohol are more damaging drugs than cannabis for example, but two are legal and the other isn't. If you made cannabis legal you would have some people, probably the vast majority, using it occasionally and relatively responsibly, but for others it would be a path into heroin and crack cocaine.

mjm3346

Should local councils be doing more to stop payday lending in their area? NO

Should they concentrate on the core services they should provide? YES

Hopefully for their interference in what is a free market someone will sue the pants off them (either a company for the unfair/discriminatory restriction of trade or a member of the public who is discriminated against by being denied access to payday lenders)

redpete

• Using social fund cash to help credit unions compete with payday lenders.

This is the only one I would support. PDLs are a legal business that some people manage to use responsibly in emergencies.

tomtontom

Offer financial education and help with budgeting to those who want it - this can be a volunteer led service at libraries, so minimal cost involved. Ultimately people need to make their own choices, the state should not be restricting access to services that have a legitimate purpose.

Monkeyballs

Hi,

In a word, no.

I do however think that the industry should have more legislation and there should be a cap on the amount you can borrow, the interest rate and the period of time which you can borrow for to help to ensure that they are used for the purpose intended and not abused.

I also think that there should be a restriction of how many can operate within a certain area, I think the same of betting shops as well though.

In York it feels like you can't walk down a street without the offer of a short term loan... It's the same for bookies with their FOBT machines, doesn't feel like a week goes by without a new betting shop opening up and as a recovering gambler it makes life difficult...

MB

ReadingTim

If you do want to restrict payday loan and betting shops, you should probably add fried chicken shops to that list - completing the unholy trinity of urban blight

dzug1

CKhalvashi wrote: »

If you want to blame anyone, blame those licensing these institutions, as I'd love to see them at no more than 1 per x people in towns.

CK

Won't the market put a limit on the number of such places?. If there's too many competing then some won't survive. And if they survive there's a legitimate demand for them

Monkeyballs

dzug1 wrote: »

Won't the market put a limit on the number of such places?. If there's too many competing then some won't survive. And if they survive there's a legitimate demand for them

You'd think wouldn't you... But, as you can walk into several one after another and borrow from each then probably not no.

MB

dealer_wins

I think we need a big bookmakers complete with a payday loan counter, pawnbroker counter, cash machine, fried chicken service, alcohol/ciggie counter and smoking area out the back.

This would keep all the riff-raff in one place during the day rather than meandering up and down the high street between each different shop/bookie annoying everyone else!!

27col

Sedge123 wrote: »

Why should the council have to act against these people. If you remove access to these companies then people will not stop using them, they will just turn yo the inevitable replacement that appears.

At some point people have to take responsibility for their own actions.

Wash your mouth out!. The very idea that people should take responsibility for their own actions is outrageous, What would all the state nannies and do-gooders do if you left them nothing to interfere with.