§ Mr. Alfred MorrisTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will introduce a mortgage benefit or mortgage-to-rent scheme to assist home owners who are in arrears with their mortgage and who face the prospect of their homes being repossessed and the prospect of homelessness.
§ Mr. BaldryLenders have introduced a range of measures this year, following the discussions between the Government and the Council of Mortgage Lenders in December 1991, including mortgage-to-rent to help borrowers at risk of repossession. Lenders estimate that these measures will save some 55,000 repossessions this year.
Interest rates have been reduced by 3 per cent. in the last two months, bringing the total reduction since October 1990 to 8 per cent. In addition, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his autumn statement a package of £750 million for the purchase of empty properties overhanging the housing market.
We have no plans to introduce a mortgage benefit scheme.