Alan Johnson MP

The steps that have been taken to ensure help is available at every stage of the repossession process include:

 

• ACTION ON ADVICE: The Government is investing £130m in providing free face-to-face debt advice services between 2006 and 2011, and over the past year more than 100,000 families have received information and advice about their mortgages from councils and Citizens Advice Bureaux.

 

• ACTION ON LENDERS: The Government has taken action so homeowners are treated fairly with tolerance and understanding from lenders for those in mortgage arrears – 116,000 struggling households are now benefiting from special arrangements agreed with their lender.

 

• ACTION IN THE COURTS: Lenders must prove they have exhausted every possible option before applying for a repossession order. The Government has continued to put funding into Court Desks offering free, on-the-day legal advice and representation for those threatened with repossession. The Government recently doubled the extra funding to support this service. There is now universal access to this service for people attending repossession hearings at county courts in England. Even on the day of a repossession hearing, around four in five repossessions can still be stopped if the households attend court and access free advice.

 

• ACTION TO PROVIDE DIRECT SUPPORT: Through special Government schemes like Support for Mortgage Interest and Homeowners Mortgage Support over 200,000 families are now getting help with their mortgage interest payments – with another 88,000 expected to benefit over the next two years. For the most vulnerable households facing the immediate threat of repossession, there is the safety net of the Mortgage Rescue Scheme.