CML stops releasing arrears and BTL data

The Council of Mortgage lenders were happy to publish data free when the housing market was booming. Now, that it is crashing, they have restricted their data to CML "members and associates".

This is what their website says:

We compile and publish a range of statistics on the UK housing and mortgage markets including key data on mortgage lending, arrears and possessions, payment protection insurance and buy-to-let. With effect from January 2009, the full range of data is available only to CML members and associates. Details on how to join the CML can be found in our membership section.

I thought I might try and join. However, it is a little pricy. Here are the membership fees:

The annual subscription for associates is levied from 1 January to 31 December and is currently £6,610 plus a one-off joining fee of £1,525. The subscription is charged on a pro-rata basis for applications approved after January

Does the CML have anything to hide? I think they do. They don't want us to know just how bad the mortgage market has become. Better keep it secret; better keep it out of sight from the likes of Alice Cook and other bloggers.