“Repossession help must continue”

Julie Cooper has supported Labour pulling out all the stops to support struggling homeowners, despite new figures published today that show the number of repossessions in 2009 were 38% less than originally forecast.

Julie Cooper said:

“Lower interest rates and Labour’s measures to help people have helped more struggling families stay in their homes than previously predicted.

“The facts speak for themselves. Compared to the early 90s recession, fewer houses been repossessed. If we’d repeated the mistakes of the Tory recession in the 1990s, house repossessions would have been twice as high.

“The main difference this time round is that Labour has taken action to support people. Instead of letting people to sink or swim, we have invested to help keep people in their homes. This help must continue.”

Labour Housing Minister John Healey said: “We’ve pulled out all the stops over the last year to help struggling homeowners take control of their finances, and it means thousands of families have not faced losing their homes. In fact more than 330,000 families have benefited from help and advice with their mortgage over the past year”.

“I have extended the support for those who need it most, and we’re working with local advice agencies to make sure people can access the help they need - from free legal advice to, for the most vulnerable households, the backstop Mortgage Rescue Scheme. We will keep this support in place because we know pressures on family finances and mortgage payments will continue through 2010. To cut the special support we’ve put in place would put families at more risk of repossession.”