Mortgage Rescue Scheme Failure

The Mortgage Rescue Scheme was announced last year by the Government in response to rising levels of home repossessions.

The scheme allows for a registered social landlord (RSL) to take a part share in the ownership of a house, or buy it outright, and rent it back to the occupier. The rent is set at a level to reflect the share of equity bought by the RSL. The aim is to help people stay in their homes and avoid repossession.

In 2008, 142,000 repossession claims were issued by the courts. While most of these claims did not lead to homes being repossessed, this figure indicates the number of households that are in serious mortgage arrears and therefore would benefit from this scheme. However, the scheme is being restricted to only 6,000 households by the Government. In effect, only 4% of those who are vulnerable to repossession will be assisted by this scheme.

In 2008 in Blackburn and Darwen there were 702 registered repossession claims an increase of 13% on previous years. This means, in effect, only 20 of these families would have been helped by the new government scheme.