A subsidy with the Miras touch
The story made only three paragraphs in my local paper, but it’s a scary sign of the times.
Homeowner repossessions are on the rise, up by 700 in the third quarter of the year.
That’s a shocking 15% increase on the previous three months.
It’s not just a statistic. These are real people being kicked out of their home as they can’t pay their mortgage.
And with interest rates rising inexorably, and recession taking hold, this looks like being a winter of homelessness.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey proposes a special £3billion mortgage protection fund to give £300 a month to homeowners hit by 10% rises, paid for by reversing tax breaks for the banks.
It’s happened before. Indeed, we used to get MIRAS – mortgage interest relief at source – a form of house-buying subsidy. Gordon Brown scrapped it.
It might be worth reviving, as a temporary measure. Pay out to house in.