Some 276 households helped by Mortgage Rescue Scheme
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Figures out today show the government’s £285m Mortgage Rescue Scheme has helped 276 households since it launched in January 2009.
Some 182 households accepted an offer through the scheme in Q4 2009, more than double the amount that accepted an offer between January and October.
In Q4 there were 1,294 “live” applications - where action has been taken to stop the immediate threat of repossession.
Some 15,232 households approached their local authority with mortgage difficulties in 2009, 4,310 of which were in Q4 2009.
There were also 1,785 applications specifically for the Mortgage Rescue Scheme during Q4 2009.
The scheme was launched by housing minister Margaret Beckett and is designed to help up to 6,000 households avoid repossession over the next two years.
The mortgage rescue package has two elements, it offers shared equity for those who have experienced payment shocks and need some help in paying their mortgage.
The government also offers a “Government Mortgage to Rent ” which means the registered social landlords will buy a home for 97% of its market value. The homeowner stays in their home and pay rent to the RSL as their tenant. The rent will be 20% less than the market rate for the area.
John Healey, housing minister, says: “More than 15,000 households have received free advice from their local authority since January 2009, with over 1100 receiving tailored information, or referral to their lender or independent money adviser between October and December.
“In the last three months, over 9,000 cases facing legal action were seen by court desk advisers, of which over 7,500 had the immediate risk of losing their home lifted - meaning four out of every five struggling households advised were able to stay in their homes beyond the hearing.
“And the last resort Mortgage Rescue Scheme has helped 1200 households stop the immediate threat of repossession, with a further 544 accepting an offer from a Registered Social Landlord to sell and rent back their property so they could stay in their homes.
“A total of 276 homeowners have been helped since the scheme’s launch last year.”
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Readers' comments (8)
Anonymous | 11 Feb 2010 2:05 pm
Figures out today show the government’s £285m Mortgage Rescue Scheme has helped 276 households since it launched in January 2009.
This equates to public money of £1,032,608.69 per household, what a waiste of public money!
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Hypothecation | 11 Feb 2010 2:20 pm
Don't be an idiot - they haven't spent all £285m on just these 276 households!
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Anonymous | 11 Feb 2010 2:23 pm
On the same day they announce 46000 repossesions the government announces 276 households helped. Thats amazing. P.S. Don't forget your lottery tickets at least you have more chance of winning that than getting help with your mortgage
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Anonymous | 11 Feb 2010 2:39 pm
They could have helped significantly more if the local councils had an inkling into how to run this scheme effectively. The process is very lengthy are these is vey poor communication from council to Lender.
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Anonymous | 11 Feb 2010 3:24 pm
I wonder how many of these cases are where the mortgage was sold on for less than par sometimes as low as 40p in the pound , usually to hedge funds, and the buyer of the loan has used the government scheme and tax payer money to boost profits!
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Andrew Deeley | 11 Feb 2010 3:29 pm
The hidden benefit of this scheme has been to get borrowers to seek money advice and prioritise their debts. Often they prioritise non secured loans over the mortgage due to the aggressive collection techniques employed by non-secured lenders and credit card companies. Getting borrowers to realise its more important to pay the mortgage has been a great benefit.
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Sarah Smith | 11 Feb 2010 3:39 pm
They were supposed to have helped 3,000 in 2009 and 3,000 in 2010, way way way off reaching that. What a complete and utter waste of money.
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Anonymous | 11 Feb 2010 5:20 pm
At least the following is a far better offer than that being made by the sale and rent back lenders:
The government also offers a “Government Mortgage to Rent?” which means the registered social landlords will buy a home for 97% of its market value. The homeowner stays in their home and pay rent to the RSL as their tenant. The rent will be 20% less than the market rate for the area.
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