I've just signed an agreement for the credit union to manage loans from the Mortgage Respossession Prevention Scheme. It's an interesting example of how government initiatives filter down...
About two years ago, when the recession was still a credit crunch, someone in government thought 'people may be having problems paying their mortgage, what can we do to help them?' So about a year ago, Northumberland CC got about £76k from Government with the guidance 'use this to bung an interest-free loan to anyone having problems with their mortgage (or rent)'
And now - after a lot of effort to make the thing practical, we've got a three-way arrangement: NCC provides the money, CABx money advisors assess and authorise applicants, the credit union lends the money from the NCC pot and manages the loan. So if you want an interest-free loan of up to £5000 over five years to help with your mortgage or rent payments - this is for you.
But - the people who come to the CABx for debt advice are usually in more trouble than that, and wouldn't be able to repay such a loan. So how to get the message out to people with temporary problems who will be able to repay such a loan, and keep up with the mortgage payments in the future?
A nice-sounding idea from Government - but not really thought through, but we'll do our best to make it work
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