The Help to Stay fund will offer eligible applicants up to £147,000 interest-free for five years to pay off some of their mortgage and lower their monthly payments to an affordable level. The loans will have to be repaid within 15 years and applicants could end up paying back more than they initially borrowed if the value of their home goes up.
Breathing space from money pressures
The Welsh Government hope that by providing shared equity loans they will give homeowners facing financial difficulty time to resolve their underlying financial issues and reduce the risk of repossession and homelessness.
Eligible applicants will be offered a financial assessment by an Independent Mortgage Advisor (IMA) based on their specific circumstances. The loan application will only be processed if the IMA recommends the equity loan as the best course of action.
Relief will be allocated carefully
Homeowners must speak to their existing lender and work with a free debt advice provider to draw up a debt solution plan before they can apply to Help to Stay.
Applicants must also meet the following criteria:
- The household is either in, or facing, mortgage difficulty and is at risk of losing the home
- The property is in Wales
- The property is valued at £300,000 or less
- The total household income is not greater than £67,000 per annum
- The property is subject to only one existing legal charge by the first charge mortgage lender
- The applicant is the owner of the property, and it is their primary or sole residence
