Real Estate Bubble

[lentinman]

Homeowners 'mistakenly think Government would pay their mortgage

Publisher: Ian Morgan
Published: 26/06/2006 - 08:45:23 AM

People are living with a false sense of security Nearly one in 10 homeowners mistakenly think the Government would help them pay their mortgage if they lost their job, research showed today.

Around 8% of people said they thought they would be offered financial assistance with repayments if they were out of work, while a further 7% said they did not know if the Government would help them or if they would be on their own, according to Lincoln Financial Group.

Women are more likely to think they would get help if they were unemployed (10%), compared with 7% of men who thought the Government would step in.

In reality the Government does not offer people help with keeping up with mortgage interest for the first nine months they are out of work, and then help is only available to certain people and for mortgages of up to £100,000.

Ian Noble, head of strategic partnerships at Lincoln Financial Group, said: "Millions of people are living with a false sense of security believing that the Government will bail them out if they cannot earn.

"That is not the case unfortunately. The Government is not going to pay for your mortgage if you lose your job, and assuming that it will places people in real danger as it suggests they have no other mortgage protection plan in place."