UK Government announces mortage support scheme
4 Dec 08
Recession measures top of legislative programme for next year
Actions aimed at tackling the current economic situation were at the top of the political agenda yesterday.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a new government scheme to help those facing home repossession as MPs began to debate the Queen’s Speech setting out proposed legislation for 2009.
Those struggling to cope with mortgage repayments will be offered the chance to have their interest payments deferred for up to two years under the scheme, which will cover mortgages up to £400,000. Some 11,300 properties were repossessed between July and September, compared to 10,100 in the preceding three months.
The banks that have agreed to participate in the scheme are HBOS, Nationwide Abbey, Lloyds TSB, Northern Rock, Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC. Moneys deferred wil eventually be repayable.
There were 12 bills in the Queen’s Speech and two carried over, the most controversial of which is the Welfare Reform Bill, aimed at cutting the number of people receiving incapacity benefit. The bill will abolish income support and move all claimants on to jobseeker's allowance, or employment and support allowance for the sick.
Other bills include:
- the Coroners and Justice Bill, which will affect Scotland by preventing criminals from making money through selling their stories and ensuring that bans do not run concurrently with custodial sentences. Warnings have been expressed about proposed new data sharing powers for government departments;
- a Savings Gateway Bill, aimed at encouraging people on low incomes to save, with the government giving them 50p after 24 months for every pound they put away during that period. It will also give more people access to a bank account;
- the Child Poverty Bill, to enshrine in law for the first time the UK Government’s commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020. This will require co-operation from devolved administrations;
- the Marine and Coastal Bill, which will give Scotland extended powers over the surrounding seas. It is aimed at safeguarding rare and threatened species;
- an Equality Bill, which brings together all the different strands of equality legislation, and will tackle the gender pay gap. The bill will also ban secrecy clauses, so that workers are able to compare wages with those of their colleagues.
Bills on political parties and elections, and local democracy and economic regeneration, are carried over from the last session.