Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme to be extended to buy-to-let?

December 7, 2008 by Brendan

News

The recent announcement from the government concerning the Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme, that is to help homeowners who are behind on the mortgage payments, should be extended to include buy-to-let mortgages, according to the National Landlords Association.

The new government scheme has been set up to provide support for homeowners who are in mortgage arrears as a result of redundancy or sickness. While the announcement was welcomed, it has come to light that only a fraction of people who are in arrears would benefit from the plan.

There are an estimated 75,000 homeowners facing repossession next year.

The National Landlords Association’s Simon Gordon stated this week that buy-to-let mortgages should be covered by the scheme in order to avoid tenants being evicted from their homes as a result of the landlord’s failure to pay the mortgage. He commented:

Seventy-one per cent of landlords expect rental arrears to be a major issue during 2009.

If the endgame is to prevent people losing their homes, then it makes no sense for buy-to-let mortgages to be exempt from these new measures. By giving landlords breathing space, they would have a chance to offer any struggling tenants a similar period to get their finances in order and prevent the homes being repossessed.