Developments in loaning social assistance: support for mortgage interest in Britain

Britain's 2015 summer budget introduced a policy extending the use of loans in its social security system. From April 2018 support for mortgage interest will be loaned, rather than granted. Its repayment is to be via a charging order on the homes of benefit recipients and/or from wages when they (re-)enter work. This development is examined in relationship to the use of loans in British social assistance provision. The paper argues that it is consistent with the philosophical underpinnings of loaning social assistance, but it also involves new developments with regard to charging interest and the recovery of the loans.