Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the potential impact of the new Mortgage Guarantee Scheme on the number of (a) repossessions and (b) households entering negative equity.

The Government recognises the difficulties some prospective first-time buyers face in buying a home and is committed to helping them get on the housing ladder.

The Mortgage Guarantee Scheme is designed to support and sustain the availability of low deposit mortgage products for credit-worthy borrowers. Participating lenders must be satisfied that prospective borrowers can afford their mortgage repayments and will be assessed as part of an individual lender’s affordability assessment, as with any other mortgage product.