The Mortgage Rescue Scheme has been operational across England since January 2009. As part of the monitoring arrangements for the scheme, headline data for January to September 2009, provided by local authorities operating the scheme and broken down by Government Office Region, are available on the Department’s website. The figures can be assessed using the following link:
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/mortgagerescuestatistics
Figures reported by local authorities from January to September 2009 are provided in a table, which has been placed in the Library of the House.
In the current economic conditions, we have acted rapidly to put in place help and support for households struggling with their mortgage at every stage: from free debt advice when problems start, to free support for cases that reach court. Advice is available to all households struggling with their mortgage, with targeted schemes for those in most need.
Further to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Grant Shapps) on 8 December 2009, Official Report, columns 306-07W, 56 areas have been identified as priority areas as part of the preventing repossessions awareness campaign.
These are currently:
Barking and Dagenham;
Corby;
Knowsley;
Salford;
Newham;
Walsall;
Redditch;
Halton;
Sandwell;
Wolverhampton;
Nottingham;
Birmingham;
Manchester;
Bolton;
Liverpool;
Sunderland;
Reading;
Wigan;
Swindon;
Northampton;
Kingston-upon-Hull;
Cannock Chase;
Barnsley;
Derwentside;
Doncaster;
Easington;
Luton;
Middlesbrough;
North Lincolnshire;
Nuneaton and Bedworth;
Oldham;
Peterborough;
Rochdale;
Rotherham;
Sedgefield;
South Tyneside;
Stockton-on-Tees;
Stoke-on-Trent;
Tameside;
Tamworth;
Wear Valley;
Wellingborough;
Ashfield;
Blackburn with Darwen;
Blackpool;
Blyth Valley;
Bradford;
Burnley;
Chester-le-Street;
Croydon;
Greenwich;
Lewisham;
Rossendale;
South Holland;
Thurrock; and
Waltham Forest.