DCLG chief admits mortgage rescue delay

3 Jul 09
The government’s £285m mortgage rescue scheme is not working well enough, a senior civil servant has admitted
By Neil Merrick

June 26, 2009

The government’s £285m mortgage rescue scheme is not working well enough, a senior civil servant has admitted.

Terrie Alafat, director for housing delivery and homelessness at the Department for Communities and Local Government, was speaking at the Chartered Institute of Housing conference, held in Harrogate on June 16–18.

She said that applications to local authorities were being delayed even though families were eligible for support.

‘It’s taking too long for people to get through the system,’ she told a session on the effects of the recession. ‘The delays are not with accessibility. It appears to be in getting through the whole process and detailed evaluation.’

Since January, families struggling with mortgage payments have been able to sell their homes to registered social landlords and become tenants or reduce their mortgage costs by sharing their equity with the RSL. But by the end of April, just two families had received assistance even though thousands were approaching councils with problems.

Alafat praised the campaigns run by some authorities but said it was vital to reach households across the country and ensure they were not tempted to sell their homes to rogue private firms.

Speaking later at a debate on youth homelessness, junior housing minister Ian Austin promised a new cross-departmental focus on jobs. ‘When a young person comes in for housing advice they will be signposted to education and training opportunities,’ he said. ‘We must not lose a whole generation of communities to long-term unemployment as we did in previous recessions.’

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