Government will help only 17 Cheshire Families facing Repossession

7.36.16pm BST (GMT +0100) Wed 15th Apr 2009

The Mortgage Rescue Scheme was announced in November last year by the Government, following an alarming rise in the number of people having their homes repossessed by mortgage lenders.

The Liberal Democrats have discovered that Labour ministers have restricted the scheme to only 6,000 homes across the whole of England, with just 17 are likely to be rescued this year here in South Cheshire.

Local Lib Dem Parliamentary spokesperson Dr Peter Hirst says: "This means that only one in 25 households facing repossession claims in the courts - the first part of a process mortgage lenders have to go through to repossess a home - will get help under the scheme."

411 repossession claims were issued in South Cheshire in 2008 and many more are expected in 2009. But only 17 are likely to have their homes saved under this scheme.

Dr Hirst added: "The Mortgage Rescue Scheme was launched with a great fanfare by the Government in the autumn. But it is totally inadequate for the rising tide of repossessions that local residents are facing.

"Labour is behaving like King Canute sitting on the beach hoping they can order the repossession tidal wave to roll back into the sea. At the same time, families are being engulfed in repossession orders and homes are being swept away.

"Repossession is a terrifying reality for too many people in South Cheshire. The Mortgage Rescue Scheme needs to be expanded urgently or else residents will face being thrown onto the streets."