PROTECTION FOR HOUSE BUYERS

That this House considers that in view of the huge efforts made by the Bank of England and the Government to protect the banks, building societies and lending institutions from the consequences of their own lax lending, it is now time to act to protect those borrowers who are suffering from the consequences of the excessive exuberance and irresponsibility of the financial sector by helping the victims of these financial follies in the way the American Congress is now proposing; and therefore urges the Government to implement quickly some or all of the following strategies: an urgent mandatory three month delay in foreclosures and repossessions to allow reorganisation of the financial affairs of the borrowers on the advice of debt advisers, ensuring that during this period the victims should be paid housing benefit, requiring lending institutions to reduce their claims and interest charges in foreclosure cases, providing government support of the type and on the scale available to first-time buyers to support borrowers in danger of foreclosure to help them to stay in their houses and, as a last resort, when repossession cannot be avoided, encouraging and financing local authorities to buy repossessed houses and add them to their housing stock rather than allowing them to be dumped on the market to depress property prices generally.