Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessments she has made of the adequacy of disability benefits in supporting constituents with mortgage repayments.

Support for homeowners in receipt of income-related benefits, including disabled people on those benefits, is available in the form of Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI), an interest-bearing loan offered at the same rate it was as a benefit.

SMI provides support for homeowners who are unable to meet their mortgage repayments due to illness, unemployment or other personal crisis or income shocks.

The primary purpose of SMI is to help people meet their existing mortgage commitments so that they can stay in their homes without fear of repossession.