Labour's Mortgage Rescue Scheme declared an expensive failure

A couple of years ago when I was Chair of the Housing Scrutiny Panel in Reading I drew attention to the previous Labour government's Mortgage Rescue Scheme in a post entitled: 'The recession, housing and health in Reading today"

"As predicted we had a very interesting discussion on all things housing-related, spending a fair amount of time discussing how Reading is coping in the recession.


I was very impressed by the way officers in Reading Borough Council are coming up with policies and approaches that are really helping to support people in Reading. As one officer remarked 'we've never been here before' - is an element of trial and error involved but the fact that the Council is willing to be flexible to ensure people don't slip through the net was encouraging.
This pragmatic approach is quite different from some much-hyped government initiatives like the ill-fated Mortgage Rescue Scheme which it was revealed recently has only helped 6 families in the UK so far!'

Earlier this week the independent National Audit Office published a damning report claiming that this scheme helped less than half of people expected and went £35 million pounds over budget

"The Mortgage Rescue Scheme, launched in January 2009 by the Department for Communities and Local Government, in two years achieved fewer than half of the rescues expected.

The National Audit Office has reported that the Department directly helped 2,600 households avoid repossession and homelessness at a cost of in excess of £240 million - but it originally expected to help 6,000 households for £205 million.

The Department has spent on average £93,000 for each rescue completed – it expected to spend £34,000."

Preventing homelessness is vitally important.

Staff at Reading Borough Council work hard every day supporting families and individuals who find themselves in impossible housing positions.

But with less money around it is vital that taxpayers' money is spent wisely on organisations and schemes that deliver for residents.

I hope the present government learns from this expensive failure and works with councils to come up with a better system to support people faced with repossession.

Lib Dem Empty Homes Campaign continues to open doors

Although I have my fair share of criticisms of Labour-run Reading Borough Council, every so often the Council gets it right.

Today is one of those days with news that the Council has clubbed together with local Reading-based charities the Reading Single Homeless Project and the Forgotten Gurkha (which is based in Eldon Square in my ward, Redlands) to try and turn empty housing into much-needed homes.

As Lib Dem housing spokesperson since 2006, I led the campaign to get RBC to bring in an empty homes strategy, and 2 years after it became Council policy the EHS continues to open doors for people who are desperately seeking housing.

My colleague Cllr Peter Beard, Lib Dem Councillor for Tilehurst actively campaigned to extend the rights of Gurkhas and their families when he was Mayor of Reading last year and is continuing to fight tirelessly alongside the Forgotton Gurkhas charity to help Gurkhas get better housing.

From RBC's press release:

"Property owners struggling to let their empty homes are being asked to work with local charities and Reading Borough Council to meet demand for housing.

As part of Reading's Empty Homes Strategy, the Council puts owners of empty homes in touch with people and agencies wishing to buy, lease or rent these properties.

Reading Single Homeless Project and The Forgotten British Gurkha are two organisations that have asked Reading Borough Council to help find much needed homes to buy or rent for their clients. "

The Council's Learning Disability team is also looking for homes to rent for its clients.

Do you own an empty property in Reading or know someone who does? Officers have said ideally, the properties should be family sized so that two or more people can live together and share the facilities.

Key contacts are as follows:

• To let your home to people with a learning disability via the Council, call Bryony Hall on 01189 390361.
• The Deposit Guarantee Scheme team is available on 0118 939 0233.
• The Reading Single Homeless Project contact is Ian Caren on (0118) 950 7656 or info@rshp.co.uk
• Paul Keddie is the contact at The Forgotten British Gurkha on (0845) 003 9958 or enquiries@theforgottenbritishgurkha.co.uk
• For details on empty homes in Reading, go to www.reading.gov.uk/housing/emptyhomes/ or call the empty homes officer on (0118) 9373091.