Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential effect of mortgage rate increases on the (a) loan to value ratio and (b) viability of retaining ownership of a property for people affected by the Loans for Mortgage Interest Regulations 2017.

Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans provide robust protection against repossession and will be offered to all eligible owner-occupiers regardless of the loan to value ratio of their property or the level of equity available.

A standard interest rate (SIR) is used to calculate Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) payments and is set at a level equal to the Bank of England's published monthly average mortgage interest rate. A change to the standard interest rate will occur when the Bank of England average mortgage rate differs by 0.5 percentage points or more from the SIR. If average mortgage interest rates increase beyond this threshold, SMI payments to customers will increase accordingly.