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Rowntree calls for sustainable mortgage scheme

Homeowners at risk of defaulting on their loans should be better protected by the authorities, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said yesterday.

The body said in a report yesterday that a mooted national government sustainable home ownership scheme should be put into practice.

Such a scheme would see homeowners faced with sudden loss of income, whether through illness or being made redundant, helped with their mortgages by the government and their lenders.

The foundation backed up its argument by quoting research that showed that, should the conditions of the 1992 recession be repeated, 25 per cent more homeowners would risk repossession currently.

Report co-author Steve Wilcox said: "With housing market conditions tightening it's time to re-think how to best help these households and to provide better underpinning for the housing market - and the wider economy."

The foundation suggested that mortgage repayments through future sustainable ownership schemes should be half-funded by lenders and the government.

Loans borrowers would then pay back the remaining 50 per cent of the loan.

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