Support for Mortgage Interest in the Cost Of Living Crisis, are people waiting too long?
By Tony Pell
At Citizens Advice we are seeing a number of clients who have lost their jobs and they have to claim Universal credit. The problem is they have not got enough money to live on and pay all of their bills. For example, if they are aged over25 their Universal Credit (UC) payment is £334.91 per month for a single person.
A key issue is they are not entitled to any help with their mortgage for 9 months. In addition, the cost of living crisis is exacerbating many clients’ debt problems. They just cannot make ends meet. The consequences are that many people may lose their homes as they will be repossessed by the lender before they can apply for Support for mortgage interest.
We had a client at Citizens Advice who was aged over 25 and lost their job. They were entitled to a universal credit payment of £334.91 per month. However, their mortgage payment was £400 per month. Some client’s mortgage payments can be more or less. But having to wait 9 months before they can get any help is too long. Also, it is very stressful for the clients and detrimental to their mental health. We can refer them for specialist housing advice. We can ask for the debt to be put on hold for 30 days and we can use breathing space. This will buy the client another 60 days. If the client has mental health issues they can also be provided with further appropriate help particularly if the local NHS crisis team are involved. This can stop all action from their creditors. We can help the client negotiate with their bank, looking at payments depending on their circumstances, or asking the bank for more time to pay off the debt.
We are worried about this issue and the growing numbers of clients that may find themselves in this situation ending up on benefits and having to contend with the 9 month waiting period as the consequences could ultimately lead to them losing their home
With increased interest rates more families could find themselves in this vulnerable position.
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