Government cash announced to slow down repossessions

Posted: 20 Jan 2009 12:31:19 GMT

The government began a scheme yesterday (January 19th) aimed at curbing the threat of repossessions, injecting £200 million to protect homeowners.

Mortgage holders struggling with monthly repayments will now be able to sell a portion of their home to their local housing authority in order to then rent it back, reducing the need for banks to repossess a property.

The scheme is likely to protect up to 6,000 homeowners from repossession, the government has stated, although figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders have shown that there could be as many as 75,000 repossessions made this year.

Grant Shapps, Conservative housing spokesman, said: "We welcome anything that will genuinely keep people in their homes, but [these are] reannouncements that simply aren't going to help many families.

"Ministers are guilty of running around like headless chickens announcing complicated, confusing and often contradictory plans, which later turn out to help far fewer people than the headlines would have you believe."

Homeowners hoping to downsize to reduce mortgage payments and avoid the threat of repossession could benefit from selling their property online, as more buyers seeing it online could lead to a higher sale price.



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