The Government’s Mortgage Rescue Scheme has now been running for twelve months. There have been a number of changes from the original qualifying criteria since the start of the scheme.

>Households can now be in negative equity- up to 120% of the current market value of their home, whereas before they could not owe more than 97% of the value.

>The upper limit on valuations has increased from £115,000 for the North East Region to £125,000. There is still some flexibility on this in certain circumstances and no case should be excluded from consideration if there is a chance that a valuation could be within 10% of that limit.
 

The Mortgage Rescue Scheme is still designed to be a ‘last resort’ and applicants can only be considered for inclusion when their lender has exhausted all their hardship options. Households must still be in ‘priority need’ (i.e. have dependent children, or be vulnerable due to old age or disability) and applicants must have a combined income of less than £60,000 pa.

Repossessions Fund. The Government has also provided additional money to be used as a repossessions fund. This money can be used to provide loans to help pay off mortgage arrears, rent arrears and also for bonds for private rented properties to prevent rough sleeping. It can also be used to assist Mortgage Rescue Cases where the lender is unwilling to write off ‘overhanging’ debt and by doing this will enable the ‘rescue’ to go through. The money is designed to be re-cycled as much as possible so it can benefit the maximum number of households.

 

Extra free CAB Money Advice sessions for homeowners will be available in the Town Hall this month. Applicants will be able to access money advice from the CAB so an affordable payment plan can be agreed.

 

Time2Buy, part of the Fabrick group will take all Mortgage Rescue referrals that we send them from 4^th February. They have guaranteed to turn around all cases within 90 days of referral and provide regular updates on all cases to all involved parties.

 

Court repossession proceedings. The Council’s Housing Options Team receives notification from all lenders who have applied for possession proceedings against households. We have received 40 of these letters to date. All households are sent a letter outlining what help is available. The response rate has been disappointing so visits are now planned by officers to ensure that as much as possible can be done for each family.     

 

This website gives detailed advice on what is available to help householders and can be personalised for their individual circumstances.

 

Support for Mortgage Interest – This is available for households where they have been claiming Job Seekers Allowance for 13 weeks or more. The DWP will pay interest payments directly to the lender. The claim forms are available from the Job Centre.

 

Homeowners Mortgage Support – This scheme is designed to help households whose incomes have dropped as a result of the economic downturn, for example, where a family member has lost their job and the household now relies on one income. The lender could then delay some of the monthly interest payments on the mortgage for up to two years. The money is not written off and has to be paid back eventually. However it has the advantage of giving the household breathing space to get back on their feet. Applications for this scheme should be made directly with the lender.

 

The Housing Options Team would encourage anyone in mortgage difficulties to come in and speak to them at the earliest possible opportunity – there will also be a CAB advisor in the Town Hall two days a week who is available give free advice to anyone with mortgage difficulties. Appointments can be made through the Housing Options Team or by speaking to the CAB directly.

 

Contact: Housing Options on 01325 388522 /388529 for more information.

CAB can be contacted on 01325 256999