Building Societies Association hails changes to Support for Mortgage Interest Loan The Building Societies Association (BSA) has welcomed the new changes to the Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loan, which came into effect today.
The SMI loan pays the mortgage interest for homeowners on certain benefits. The change means homeowners who face financial difficulties will receive support after three months instead of the previous nine-month waiting time.
This amendment could prevent homeowners from getting into serious mortgage arrears.
The BSA has been calling for these changes for some time, as waiting nine months to receive support could lead to homeowners being six months in arrears before they receive government support.
This puts homeowners’ financial situation in jeopardy and makes it more difficult for them to resolve their problems.
Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage and housing policy at the Building Societies Association (BSA), said: “This is a common-sense change from the Government. Enabling access to the SMI loan much earlier could well be the difference between a family keeping a roof over their heads or them facing the prospect of their home being repossessed and having to find an alternative, government supported, rental accommodation.
“Also, as SMI is a loan not a benefit, the changes introduced today should not have a long-term financial detriment on Government expenditure.”
