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Support for mortgage interest – call for evidence

28 February 2012

This call for evidence, issued in December 2011, set out the Government’s ideas on simplifying the help provided towards mortgage interest payments for working age and pensioner home owners, and considers potential future changes in line with Universal Credit principles, and fairness to taxpayers.

It sought responses to a number of questions and other comments that respondents may have wished to make about the options in the document or other potential options. The closing date for responses was 27 February 2012.

Background

The Government’s intention is to provide short-term help to people at a time of personal crisis such as loss of employment or relationship breakdown and incentivise work.

The government wanted views on proposals to:

• put a charge on property in return for long-term payment of support for mortgage interest. This will apply where a claimant is disabled or takes a mortgage into retirement. A charge on the property, and an additional sum for interest and an administration fee, would be recouped on the death of the claimant or the sale of that property. Alternatively the claimant could choose to pay off the charge at any point.
• apply the two year time limit for support for mortgage interest to everyone receiving income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance and the equivalent group in Universal Credit. This would include anyone who moves onto Jobseeker’s Allowance from Income Support or Employment and Support Allowance within 12 weeks of their claim ending (mainly lone parents or people found fit for work) who are currently not subject to the two year limit and can receive support for mortgage interest indefinitely. This would mean that these claimants would need to move into work in order to maintain their housing tenure in the longer-term. Alternatively the two year time limit could be abandoned and a charge put on the property in the same way as it would in the proposal for long-term claimants.
• allow all loans for housing-related expenses, subject to certain exclusions and introduce a cap on the amounts payable.
• apply waiting periods only to the current 12 and 52 week rules.
• pay the support for mortgage interest direct to the claimant.

More information

• dwp website

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