Extra Legal
Help for Struggling Homeowners
The Labour Government has announced more help for families facing
repossession of their home with the doubling of extra funding for
free, on-the-spot, legal advice in courts.
The Council of
Mortgage Lenders revised their forecast of repossessions for 2009
downwards from 75,000
to 65,000. The CML said a range of Government and industry
initiatives meant more people are making contact with their lenders
and in most cases getting help.
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Since last summer,
extra Government cash for an additional 76 court desks has meant
there is free on-the-day legal advice and representation for people
facing repossessions or eviction hearings available in all parts of
England.
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Free legal advice and
representation through court desks is just one of a range of help
measures introduced by Government to protect people’s homes. It has
a proven track record in preventing immediate repossession action
when people attend court.
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More than 200,000
families each month are getting help with their mortgage interest
or getting free Government funded advice from their local
council.
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Lenders must now
treat customers fairly, using repossession as a last resort. The
Government has also put in place special schemes for some of the
most vulnerable, elderly and disabled people at risk of having
their home repossessed.
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Ministry of Justice
figures for the first three months of 2009 show a 40% drop in
lenders bringing repossession claims to court.
Further
Information
For people struggling
with their mortgages, the Government is providing help to stop the
problem early:
·
They can get free help at Courts –
universal access to advice desks is now available in
Courts across England, providing free, on-the-day legal advice and
representation to people facing repossession or eviction
hearings.
·
They can get debt advice –
the Government has invested over £130 million in free face
to face debt advice between 2006 and 2011.
·
They will be treated fairly –
Regulation of lenders by the Financial Services
Authority and safeguards through the Courts ensure that customers
are treated fairly and repossession is only ever a last
resort.
For people in
different circumstances, the Government is providing targeted
support schemes to help them reduce mortgage payments to a level
they can afford. These include:
·
Support through the benefits system, Mortgage Rescue and
Homeowners Mortgage Support.
·
Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)
- 220,000
households benefited from SMI in 07/08. We expect up to
10,000 extra
household to benefit from changes to SMI rules introduced in
January 2009 over the next two years.
·
Homeowners Mortgage Support (HMS) -
We know that more that 17,000 households have looked at
information on HMS and other advice on preventing
repossessions in the last three weeks.
·
Mortgage Rescue (MRS) - By end of April, over
130 households had
benefited from action through the MRS to stop the immediate threat
of repossession, with a further 240 in the assessment stage.
Every month since launch in January, over a thousand households struggling
with their mortgage have received free advice from their local
authority. We are now focussing intensively on ramping up
take-up and accelerating processing times
·
Help from local authorities –
£20m fund is now with local authorities to enable them to
offer households small loans to help prevent repossession or
eviction.
Jacqui at Jobcentre Plus
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