Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the financial impact on recipients of the delay in uprating of Support for Mortgage Interest standard interest rates.

The primary purpose of SMI is to provide owner-occupiers receiving an income-related benefit with a level of support that is sufficient to protect them from the threat of repossession. Lenders recognise that the payments we make will not always mirror the mortgage-holders liability, but we expect that they will, nonetheless, exercise forbearance.

On 31st January 2023, the Bank of England released their latest monthly average mortgage rate. This relates to December 2022 and stands at 2.51%.

The rate at which SMI is paid changes only when the Bank of England average varies from the rate in payment by 0.5% or more. Through guidance from the Financial Conduct Authority, lenders are aware that a change to the rate of SMI payments is triggered only in these circumstances and so should continue to offer tailored forbearance to their customers.

While SMI is kept under review, particularly when markets are more volatile, there are currently no plans to amend this policy. No assessment has been made of the financial impact on recipients of changing the standard interest rate before the trigger point.