The head of the UK's biggest homelessness charity has called for more protection from mortgage arrears for low-income homeowners.
Shelter director Adam Sampson demanded affordable payment protection insurance for homeowners.

He also called on the government to start benefits to cover interest repayments as soon as people become unemployed, rather than nine months later.

Sampson was speaking at the release of research showing that 91% of people said they would consult their lender if they had payment problems but that, in reality, many did not do so.

Shelter and the Building Societies Association published the figures in Mutual Advice, a guide for homeowners facing mortgage arrears.

Sampson – who also chairs a sub-committee of Baroness Dean's homeownership taskforce, due to report by the end of September – said: "If the government policy is explicitly seeking to increase the level of homeownership that must be linked to moves to develop a proper safety net, so people are protected from the worst effects.

"The benefits system must ensure people are not made homeless because of a gap between the date they lose their jobs and the date benefit becomes payable. Also, homeowners' protection insurance and mortgages must be appropriate and appropriately sold."

Source

Housing Today