Lib Dem MP slams rescue scheme performance

Liberal Democrat shadow chancellor Vince Cable has described the fact the Mortgage Rescue Scheme has helped just six families as "pitiful" at a Westminster Hall debate on repossessions.

The housing minister revealed that the total number of households across the country assisted by the Mortgage Rescue Scheme had advanced from two at the end of April to six at the end of May.

The original intention was to help 6,000 families faced by repossession.

Vince Cable said: “Helping just six families is absolutely pitiful and doesn’t even begin to address the scale of the problem.

“Vast reams of red tape stand in the way of families faced with repossession staying in their own homes. There are enormous time lags and the vast majority of people who think they are eligible find that they are not.

“Repossession is a ticking time bomb. Despite the predictions of a modest fall, the numbers of repossessions are likely to soar in the next two years because of rising unemployment. Temporary Government schemes are deferring the problem, not solving it. “If interest rates start to rise next year, the problem will become even more severe.”