Mortgage Law Developments in the European Union

Property law is able to absorb many values, from liberal legal autonomy approaches, to property as homes-with-mortgages, to regimes which emphasise the social function of property. In Europe, legal developments towards creating a single market in financial services, and the need for banking and financial stability, are impacting indirectly on property law, particularly mortgage law. After, the property market crash of 2008, a new impetus is evident, with a variety of public law regulatory measures, which amount to intervention in private contract and property law domains. This could potentially lead to the development of a distinct European property and mortgage law, incorporating more modern and person-centred values.