Martin Lewis has given his reaction to chancellor Jeremy Hunt's mortgage announcement.
Mr Hunt announced today that he has agreed to measures with lenders which aim to help mortgage holders struggling with high-interest rates. In a meeting with banks and building societies at Downing Street, Mr Hunt said they agreed to implement a 12-month minimum before repossessing homes.
He added that lenders agreed to allow struggling borrowers to extend the term of their mortgages or move to an interest-only plan temporarily with ease.
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Money-saving expert Mr Lewis said he was "pleased" by the chancellor's decision and remarked that he took on board points made during a previous meeting between them.
Writing on Twitter, Mr Lewis said: "The unprecedented steep rise in mortgage rates is causing a nightmare for many with variable mortgages and those coming off fixes. Therefore, the most important thing we can focus on right now is appropriate, flexible forbearance measures.
"While the Bank of England’s aim is intended to squeeze people’s disposable incomes, no one wants people’s lives to be ruined by arrears and repossessions – and that is the urgent protection we need to focus on. I met the Chancellor on Wednesday and reiterated that the minimum we needed was to ensure that when people asked for help from lenders, they knew that if things changed, it wouldn’t be detrimental to their financial situation and their credit scores would be protected as much as possible."
“I’m pleased to see it looks like the Chancellor has listened."
Mr Hunt said his anouncment echoed what Mr Lewis and others had been calling for. "We agreed some very important things for people who are worried about their rates going up, not just for people who are in an extreme situation, but the most significant thing is that they can pick up the phone to their bank or their mortgage lender and talk about their situation without any worry that it will impact their credit score," he said.
“If they decide to make their payments easier by extending the period of their mortgage or by going to an interest-only package, they can go back to their original package without any questions asked, without any impact on their credit score, within six months.
“That’s the reassurance that people like Martin Lewis have been saying will make a big difference for families in those situations.”
