Gordon Brown Offers mortgage holiday

[Blinglovin]

www.ft.com/cms/s/0/39ab3296-c143-11dd-831e-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

What's he doing for people who rent?

Does this mean we can stop paying our mortgage payment protection premiums - it will save us a fortune!

It seems he is asking renters to subsidise those who could afford to buy property

Who does the Labour party stand for again?

it doesn't define 'financial difficulty' though so it could mean anything from someone not being able to afford their monthly Jimmy Choos and someone who can't affod a pint of milk

and in 2 years time when all the taxes go back up people will be crippled when they suddenly realise they have to start paying their mortgage again

The unearned gains of the property rich must be preserved at all costs.

Future generations, the young and the poor must be made to pay.

It's for people who are made redundant or face a large cut in their earnings. I think it's a good idea. They will still have to pay, probably more in fact. They aren't getting a freebie.

Can't anyone say a good word for what the government is trying to do? They are taking the pressure/worry off the shoulders of those facing redundancy, so that they know that they will not lose their homes. Is this not a compassionate thing to do?

They will still have to pay their mortgages - it's not a freebie!

Why so bitter about help being offered to them?

Or do you just want a load of people to lose their homes, as happened in the 90s?

I don't mind taxes helping people going through a genuinely hard time, but if some twat has a 120% mortgage or borrowed 6 times their wages then they deserve to lose out.

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I think its quite a good thing-the one good idea Labour have had in this whole sorry mess.
If I were to lose my job tomorrow then it would be something I would be pleased about as it would mean we wouldnt end up bankrupt or homeless and costing the taxpayer even more in the long run.
And as lots of people do seem to be being made redundant etc then it makes sense.

I know this is doing nothing for renters but at least its doing something for someone.Which is more than they were doing before.

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If you are made redundant and you are renting do you not qualify for Housing benefit?

The same guarantee should be extended to people who rent their homes - as it is it isn't done to 'help pepole' it's to protect the property market - that's why it's not for renters - GB doesn't care for people.

This is just further encouraging the ridiculous spending attitude people in this country have.
If you cannot afford to buy a home- you rent.
They should be looking at making it easier for people to rent properties, and have more security rather than encouraging people to borrow what they cannot afford.
They are just deferring the problem for 2 years.. but of course they won't have to clear up then, will they, as they won't be in power?

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Christiana, if you rent you would get housing benefit. If you own, you have to wait for some time to get any assistance with your mortgage costs and even then they are limited. The waiting time is decreasing from 39 weeks, but still won't be thhe immediate housing benefit that renters can get.

The problem is that the same offer doesn't apply to people in the same boat but who are renting.

Housing Benefit isn't really available to most low to moderate earners (plus there is often a 3 month wait to actually get any money so if you have savings you have to rely on those, and you can't get HB if you have a reasonable amount in savings which includes redundancy pay))

You do qualify for HB then Christiana.But it takes a long time to come through.In the meantime, admittedly, you are screwed.

There is probably an argument to say that by helping the property market he is helping the economy as a whole.I expect he will make it.

I don't want anyone to lose their homes but the unsustainable boom in house prices should never have been encouraged. Crazy lending practices should probably have been regulated against, but the people who chose to take on 125% mortagages or 6 x their income, or lie-to-buy etc, did this of their own free will. Why should people who were priced out or unwilling to take such a gamble have to pay more in taxes to subsidise the feckless? It is the young and the poor who will have to pay.

Why have Labour chosen to intervene when prices are falling but do nothing when they are trebling, putting a reasonable standard of living out of reach for those who don't already own property? Renters have no security of tenure and nobody in government appears to give a toss. When tenants lose their jobs they lose their home, but they can also lose it because their landlord is reposessed, or because the landlord thinks they've made enough money and decides to sell up.

I agree that HB may not help if one of you loses your job

BUT in the current housing market, there would often be no option other than reposession as it is nigh on impossible to sell your house at a time like this, so even if you wanted to downsize you couldn't.

If you are renting at least you have the option of handing in your notice and renting somewhere cheaper I guess.

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what next?

he complains about people who live off the state, but then extends that arm to all and sundry, to the tune of ever more debt.

For years though there has been no help for a long time if you lose your job and you have a mortgage. You had to wait nearly a year and then you got £100,000 of interest paid for a limited period. Renters have always had the housing benefit net so that if they suddenly have no income they don't lose their home

It's a ticking time bomb, what if the homeowner hasn't got another job in 2 years time, the house is worth less, there's another 2 years worth of interest to add to the bill and he's still reposessed.
If anyone is facing reposession now they should get out and get rid of the house, have their rent paid by housing benefit until they are back on their feet and start again.