If the government can pay rich landlords mortgages off - why can't they pay the interest on mortgages of people going through financial difficulties?

[UndertheCedartree]

My friend was asking how my financial situation was (as I have been unwell and in hospital) and I was telling her that it has finally been agreed that I am entitled to some help with my housing costs (interest on my mortgage) but that it is a loan. She was shocked and said when she had financial difficulties the government paid most of her high rent (more than double the interest on my mortgage) and it ultimately went to her rich landlord who was able to pay off his mortgage with it. It made me think about the supportive accomodation my boyfriend lives in. The owner is extremely rich and gets housing benefit for 10 bedrooms when there is only 6 as each tenant gets housing benefit at a 2 bedroom rate. He also gets £800 per month for utilities/broadband from the tenants.

It does feel unfair that I have to take out a loan to cover the interest on my mortgage while I'm unwell (as surely keeping a roof over myself and my children's head makes sense?) while wealthy landlords benefit from housing benefit.

@blue25 - I couldn't afford it at the time, unfortunately. I did have savings but went through them very quickly - I was having to pay for everything with no money coming in atall. I was probably naive to think benefits would kick in quicker than they did but I honestly never expected to get so ill.

Apologies if you've answered this already, but have you spoke to your mortgage provider to see if they could help you temporarily? Could you re-mortgage for a longer term?

The housing market is a complete dogs breakfast
that's why

Successive governments have failed to properly regulate blah blah blah, it's all so repetitive and depressing😖
alright for them with their property portfolios🙄

@GallusAlice79 - I am in touch with them. I am only paying the interest, right now. I will ask about that, thank you.

@UYScuti - true.

House owners can sell their homes in the event of hard times.

I know, not only are the government paying the mortgages of rich property owners
the government and the rich property owners are (in many cases) one and the same, as such they are channeling public money into their own pockets
nicely nicely🙏
no wonder they like to have a little flutter in the housing market, they get to rig the game in their favour ....who could resist that?

@GrumpyHoonMain - I see your point. But it's not always that straightforward. I have Social Services for a start that wouldn't be happy and then I just can't get my head round the logistics of selling a property and moving while I'm in hospital - not to mention the stress which would make my mental illness worse.

I really think it would be better for you to forget the housing benefit/landlord thing as it's not going to change, and put your energy into a) getting better b) trying to sort your housing situation.

If you don't want to sell (and I get it!) then explore all the different options out there.

Check out the money advice service. They have a section specifically for people struggling to pay their mortgage.

@GallusAlice79 - I know it's not going to change I just thought it was an interesting debate. Thank you for the advice - I'll look on the money advice service.

It is...but it's part of a much wider debate around social housing and the welfare state in general. And that won't be solved here, tonight

@GallusAlice - that's true!

You dont sound like you understand economy OP. As a taxpayer I would not like to pay for someone else' debt no matter what. Maybe a loan to help you keep your house for a while but to help pay off your mortgage are you for real? Yes, yes your children are important to you, so are other children. You want stability but my guess is you live in an area you can't afford. Sell up and move, and create a new stability in a cheaper place.

And I'm so bored of these 'Tory landlord' bashing. We were landlords but guess what we rented too. We were great tenants and we had the most god awful scumbags as tenants. Not all landlord are rich. If you hate landlords so much go live on the street.

My friend and her DH have 11 properties. They both came from lower middle class/poor families. Went to uni, worked hard in jobs and saved like crazy. They bought a property every year! Had their first child at 38 although they were together since uni.
It’s not always fair/unfair/lucky thing.
In many cases, it’s dedicated hardwork and financial discipline.

I agree that mortgage interest should be paid, at least for a short period. It’s not the same as housing benefits being paid to “landlords” though. The housing benefits is actually being paid to the tenants to cover their rent. Whether or not the landlord has a mortgage or is “rich” is irrelevant. The government is paying for the tenants rent not the landlords mortgage.

We don't know how many mortgages the Government is paying interest for or for how long. Does the Government pay for 25 years if someone is sick ?
Are there statistics to view ?

I agree, put your time and energy into trying to get well again

(I haven't read the thread before commenting, apologies if this means my contribution is a bit "off.")

At one time, income support did used to pay the interest on your mortgage. (The one time I claimed benefits, in 1991, I got half my mortgage interest for three months then the full amount thereafter, for as long as I was on income support.) So YANBU to think it's a reasonable idea that the benefits system should do this, because clearly politicians at some point in the past agreed with you.

About that time, in the early 90's, there were some stories in the newspapers of people with humongous mortgages, £500K at 1991 prices, which is probably equivalent to millions today, and these people were getting their mortgage interest paid. The rules were changed to put limits on, and I think they have been tightened further since.

Looking at if from the other side, it's probably not unreasonable to think that "benefits" are for poor people, and that the definition of poor people should exclude anyone who owns property. Once they've sold the property, and used up any equity that that then counts as savings, they can be categorised as poor by the same criteria as housing benefit claimants. (One of the good things about claiming benefits in the days when mortgage interest was paid is that any savngs used to reduce the mortgage would not count against you when means-testing was applied. By getting rid of help for home-owners, the government closes a loophole that means home-owners can hide their savings from means-testing.)

I see the headline allowance for UC is that you can claim if you have less than £16,000 savings. I guess most home-owners have more equity than that in their houses.

I think it’s difficult for you because you can see that your mortgage interest payments are less than you would receive in HB if you were private rented if you lost your house.

The problem lies where Joan down the road has interest payments of 5k on her 6 bed house. And it’s personal debt and personal choice. Or that John has a house with only 1 year left on the mortgage so effectively will have it paid off by the government and he will have a big asset.

It’s very complicated, and they don’t like things that are very complicated, it’s a one fits all mentality because it’s cheaper. And most people have some equity so can take out equity release or extend their mortgage etc.

This will be interesting in the future when people with high mortgages and no equity get into trouble.

I do think that one should be able to get the equivalent amount of help that you would get if you were renting and receiving HB. But I can see how that would be extremely unpopular

There are insurance policies to cover your earnings when you cant work due to illness.

It's lunacy to have a mortgage without insurance.

I can't get this type of insurance due to being self employed (or rather I could pay the premiums but I'd never get a claim paid). Not everyone can do this.

Your title is misleading.
The gov helped the tennant who was struggling to pay their rent.
Why don't you go into rented accomodation and get yours paid, if it bothers you that much, Better than moaning about others who are doing it.

Yes the government is helping the tenants to pay the rent,
For the landlord the tenant is a conduit to channel public money into the landlord's investment portfolio.
the underlying problem is that the government has allowed housing to become unaffordable, has allowed the housing market to become dysfunctional, markets should function in ways that benefit society not in ways that are socially destructive

@SparklingUnderpants - you're telling a mentally unwell woman and her kids to live on the street? Nice. Have you RTFT? I said I have no problem with landlords. Paying interest on a mortgage is not paying a mortgage off - don't you understand economics? And it was the case only a few years ago - so not that radical!! How can I sell up and move when I am in hospital?! I actually already live in a cheap area - not sure what made you think otherwise. And yes as Social Services say my children's stability is very important right now as they have little stability elsewhere.