Empty

Total: £0.00

picture of telephone  click icon for access to housing law in practice reference manual for membersMailing ListTwitterFacebook  YouTube

When everyone has a home

028 9024 5640: Housing & Debt Helpline for Northern Ireland

Repossession

Using behavioural insights to encourage engagement from clients with arrears

11 March 2019

As part of the work of the Housing Repossessions Taskforce, the Department for Communities asked the Behavioural Insights Team to develop and test a range of behavioural interventions to increase customer contact and

Read more

Tagged In

Repossession, Research

Reduction in interest rate charged on Loans for Mortgage Interest

9 January 2019

The Department for Work and Pensions has confirmed that the interest rate used to calculate interest due on loans for mortgage interest (LMI) has reduced from 1.7% to 1.5%. The interest rate used to calculate the amount of LMI paid to a claimant's lender remains unchanged at 2.61%. 

Read more

Tagged In

Benefits, Repossession

Homeowners urged to get advice as benefit changes to loan.

6 April 2018

A benefit that helps homeowners to pay the interest on their mortgage changes to a loan today.  Local charity Housing Rights is urging households who may be affected to get advice.  The charity’s helpline is already dealing with calls from homeowners who get the benefit, called Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI), who are unsure what the changes will mean for them.

Read more

NI mortgage borrowers urged to seek advice to avoid interest only timebomb

30 January 2018

Local charity Housing Rights is urging homeowners with interest only mortgages who do not have a repayment plan in place to contact them for free advice.

The call comes on the back of concerns expressed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that a significant number of interest only customers may not be able to repay the capital at the end of their mortgage.  According to the FCA nearly one in five mortgage customers have an interest only mortgage. 

Ursula Toner, Advice Services Manager with Housing Rights, commented:

Read more

Research & policy developments in mortgage arrears

17 November 2017

A key part of Housing Rights’ work is assisting clients struggling to meet their mortgage payments, or dealing with arrears. In recent weeks, two research papers and one policy consultation have been released which consider how such arrears can be most effectively addressed.

Read more

Tagged In

Repossession, Research

Get advice if you're worried about interest rate rise

2 November 2017

The Bank of England today announced the first rise in interest rates since 2007. In the wake of the Brexit referendum last June, the Bank of England reduced the cost of borrowing to 0.25%, but today's announcement brings the interest rate back up to 0.5%. The people who will be most adversely affected by this increase are those households with variable rate mortgages.

Read more

Tagged In

Repossession

Conversion of Support for Mortgage Interest to a loan

13 October 2017

Regulations converting Support for Mortgage Interest to a loan have recently been passed. We take a look at how the new payments of SMI will operate for claimants.

Loans for mortgage interest

All payments of SMI made on or after 6th April 2018 will take the form of a loan.

Read more

Tagged In

Benefits, Repossession, Welfare Reform, Affordability

Reduction in SMI rate puts homeowners at risk

13 June 2017

Homeowners who receive government help with their mortgage interest payments are likely to suffer a financial blow when the amount they receive reduces.

Read more

Tagged In

Benefits, Repossession, Welfare Reform

What is Support for Mortgage Interest?

13 June 2017

Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) is the collective name given to the financial help with mortgage interest payments which can be made to certain benefit claimants.  SMI can also help with the costs of certain loans secured on a property. 

SMI can be claimed by people who are in receipt of

Read more

Tagged In

Benefits, Repossession, Welfare Reform, Affordability

ADVISER: Using Housing Benefit regulations to sustain a tenancy and prevent homelessness

22 May 2017

For many years, Housing Rights has provided housing advice to people entering and leaving custody in Northern Ireland’s three prisons. The housing advice in prisons project is funded by NIHE and the Northern Ireland Prison Service and is an essential way of preventing homelessness on release and sustaining tenancies for these vulnerable members of society.

Read more

Tagged In

Benefits, Repossession, Social Tenancies, Homelessness, Adviser

Pages

Subscribe to Repossession