Home saved thanks to Mortgage Rescue Scheme

Sarah Foster, the Senior Private Sector Accommodation Officer at Rochdale Council, with Mairead Hassett, whose Jefferson Way home faced repossession before she got help from the Mortgage Rescue Scheme.

A mother of two from Syke is one of 33 people across Rochdale who have received help to fight the threat of having their homes repossessed.

Mairead Hassett, of Jefferson Way, approached the Council about the Government's Mortgage Rescue Scheme after she was made redundant and struggled to pay her mortgage. As debts mounted, creditors threatened court action and eviction.

Now Mrs Hassett and her two children, aged nine and two, are secure in their home thanks to the town's first shared-equity agreement under the Mortgage Rescue Scheme.

She said: "It's amazing; I'm so chuffed. I thought I would lose my house and my kids.

"I heard about the Mortgage Rescue Scheme on the news, looked into it and made enquiries with the council."

The Council put Mrs Hassett in touch with Sarah Foster, the Senior Private Sector Accommodation Officer.

"Sarah has been wonderful," Mrs Hassett continued. "She has held my hand all the way through it. As soon as I got to Sarah my worries all went. At every stage she has reassured me and told me what I need to do next.

"It's not just the Mortgage Rescue Scheme either - she put me in touch with the Citizens Advice Bureau and they helped me on the debt side of it, such as credit cards. They have written letters to all the people so I'm no longer being threatened with court or bailiffs and helped arrange for me to pay off what I can each month."

Rochdale has had 129 inquiries about the MRS since it began in January. There are 33 cases that qualify for MRS - affecting properties that are home to a total of 115 people - and these are in various stages of the process, including seven that were set to be completed before the end of last month.

More than 100 families living in homes at risk of repossession have benefited from the range of help available from MRS and none have been made homeless, saving the council an estimated £1 million.