The reason mortgages are more easy to obtain than say a credit card is one word. Security. Mortgages are secured on the house. If you default on payments the bank gets your house and sells it to regain the lost money. If you default on credit card payments there is a lot less they can do. Repo only works to an extent. If I buy £500 of food on my credit card then default on my card payment they aren't gonna be repoing my food. Its either eaten or stale most likely by the time they get the paperwork through.