A year of helping homeowners stay in their homes
Blwyddyn o helpu perchnogion tai i aros yn eu cartrefi
A year since its launch, Help to Stay Wales has been providing homeowners across the country with invaluable support and advice to help keep them in their homes.
Help to Stay Wales offers support to those having or facing difficulty in paying their existing mortgage and are at risk of repossession and homelessness.
Eligible homeowners could be offered an equity loan to reduce their repayments to an affordable level.
The Scheme is operated by the Development Bank of Wales and is interest free for the first five years.
The Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government, Jayne Bryant, recently visited the home of Alice Brown, a Help to Stay loan recipient from Bridgend.
After her fixed rate mortgage deal came to an end last summer, Alice saw her mortgage payments almost double.
Alice said: “When my mortgage payments increased, my lender offered to transfer me to an interest only plan for six months. While this did help, it was only a temporary solution.
“I wasn’t in debt, so the only financial advice I was getting wasn’t very helpful and the only thing I could do was reduce my mortgage payments.
“I’d heard about the scheme after it launched last year and decided to apply and see if I was eligible for the equity loan. Thankfully I was and I was able to reduce my monthly payments, which was a massive relief.”
The Cabinet Secretary said: “With increases in living costs, not being able to meet mortgage repayments is a real concern for a lot of homeowners in Wales.
“Our Help to Stay Wales scheme offers homeowners time to resolve their financial situations and most importantly, helps keep them in their precious homes.
“It was wonderful to meet with Alice and I’m very grateful to her for sharing her story with me.
“We want to help more people before they face the awful threat of repossession and I would encourage anyone who’s worried about being able to afford their mortgage payments to check if they’re eligible for Help to Stay.
ENDS.
Notes to editors
Get help paying your mortgage with a Help to Stay shared equity loan | GOV.WALES
To date, 59 applications have been received for the scheme, 5 households have benefitted from the programme, with another one approved and progressing to completion.
The scheme has also encouraged numerous households to seek free debt advice which may have provided an alternative solution to meet their needs.
For those eligible for the scheme support is provided through an Independent Financial Advisor who will carry out a financial assessment and discuss the options available, confirm that all other avenues had been exhausted and verify the levels of debt service the Applicant could reasonably afford.
The Scheme will provide an option for homeowners who are at serious risk of losing their home by offering a partial repayment of an existing mortgage balance via an interest free equity loan for 5 years, reducing revised mortgage repayments to a level the applicant can afford.