The Minister presented her thinking to the Assembly today and will make a keynote speech to the Council of Mortgage Lenders' annual lunch in the Culloden Hotel tomorrow. She is highlighting two imaginative new initiatives. The first, Mortgage to Rent Scheme, will see Housing Associations buying properties on behalf of homeowners who simply cannot afford to make repayments. The Housing Association will then lease back the property to the current owners.
The second is known as 'Reverse Staircasing.' This is for people with a much smaller outstanding mortgage who have fallen on hard times. It would see a Housing Association buying out the outstanding mortgage and converting it as affordable rent, which the owner then pays to the Housing Association.
Both these schemes will allow families to remain in their homes. They are though, only designed for people in genuine hardship.
Margaret Ritchie said: “I am concerned at the 33% increase in mortgage repossession orders in the courts. I am concerned about the effect the credit crunch is having on people’s budgets. Repossession must be the tool of last resort not the path of least resistance. Is it right that people should be out on the street, or families broken up, if, with more imagination, we can keep them in their homes?
"The New Housing Agenda promised a Mortgage Rescue Scheme. I have outlined my thinking to the Assembly regarding Mortgage to Rent and Reverse Staircasing. I will be telling the Council of Mortgage Lenders about my plans and will be very interested to hear about theirs.
“My message to the leading high street banks is simple. Please be patient. Please be understanding. Take a long term approach and work with me to bring about solutions that may be less attractive to you in the short term, but may ultimately benefit you in the long term.”
Notes to Editors:
- Margaret Ritchie will meet the Council for Mortgage Lenders at 12.15pm tomorrow, 3 June in the Culloden Hotel.
- The Minister delivered the new Housing Agenda in February this year. In it she promised a Mortgage Rescue Scheme.
- The council for mortgage lender represents 98% of all mortgages being issued.
- Margaret Ritchie will publish detailed proposals of her Mortgage Rescue Scheme, for consultation, later in the summer.
- For further information please contact Philip Maguire DSD Information Office on 028 9082 9497, Mobile 07788 108657, email Philip.Maguire@dsdni.gov.uk
