(2) what changes to the eligibility criteria of the Mortgage Rescue Scheme have been introduced as a result of the Budget 2009; what estimate has been made of the number of households which will become eligible for the scheme as a result of those changes; whether she plans to publish a revised impact assessment for the scheme; and if she will make a statement.
It was announced in the Budget 2009 that the eligibility criteria for the Mortgage Rescue Scheme will be amended to include eligible households in negative equity, provided that their loan to value ratio is less than 120 per cent. This reflects our commitment to keep the scheme under review to respond flexibly to changing housing market conditions. This is a demand-led scheme, but we estimate that it should help up to 6,000 of the most vulnerable households at risk of repossession remain in their home. This change means that households who borrowed responsibly but have fallen into negative equity because of falling house prices can still be considered for support under the scheme. This does not materially affect the Impact assessment published on 16 September 2008, so we have no plans to update this.