To be eligible for a Support for Mortgage Interest ( SMI ) loan, you must own your home or have bought a shared ownership property. You must also be getting one of the following qualifying benefits: Income Support income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance ( JSA ) income-related Employment and Support Allowance ( ESA ) Universal Credit Pension Credit Contact the relevant office to claim SMI . There’s no credit check. You can start getting the loan: from the date you start getting Pension Credit after you’ve got Universal Credit for 3 months in a row or you moved to Universal Credit within a month of another benefit ending and you’ve spent 3 months in total getting these benefits You can apply for SMI from the date you start getting your benefit. If you stopped getting SMI because you stopped getting a qualifying benefit You’ll start getting SMI again straight away if: you stopped getting Universal Credit but you started getting it again within 6 months you stopped getting Pension Credit and you were moved to Universal Credit you stopped getting Income Support, income-based JSA or income-based ESA , and you applied for Universal Credit within a month Otherwise, you’ll have to wait the normal period before getting SMI again.

When you apply for a qualifying benefit , you’ll be asked extra questions about your housing costs to find out if you’re eligible for Support for Mortgage Interest ( SMI ). If you then want to apply for SMI , you’ll need to fill in and sign in a form. You do not need to pay a fee to apply. Before filling in the form, you’ll need to: find out how much mortgage or home improvement loans you have left to pay find out how much interest you’re paying on your mortgage or home improvement loans get your partner to agree to sign the form, if you have a partner You’ll then need to send the form to your lender for them to complete. Your lender will send the completed form to the office that pays your benefit. If you qualify for SMI , you’ll be offered a loan. You can choose to accept it or turn it down. If you turn down the offer at first, you can still accept it at any time as long as you’re eligible for SMI . The payments to your lender can be backdated up to when you were first entitled to the loan. Contact the office that pays your benefit. If you already get a qualifying benefit Contact the office that pays your benefit to find out if you could get an SMI loan. The payments to your lender can be backdated up to when you were first entitled to the loan. If you get or have applied for Income Support, income-based JSA or income-related ESA , contact Jobcentre Plus. Jobcentre Plus Telephone: 0800 169 0310 Textphone: 0800 169 0314 Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 169 0310 British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service if you’re on a computer - find out how to use the service on mobile or tablet Welsh language: 0800 328 1744 Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm Find out about call charges If you get or have applied for Pension Credit, contact the Pension Service. Pension Service Telephone: 0800 731 0469 Textphone: 0800 731 0464 Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 731 0469 British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service if you’re on a computer - find out how to use the service on mobile or tablet Welsh language: 0800 731 0453 Welsh language textphone: 0800 731 0456 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm (except public holidays) Find out about call charges If you get or have applied for Universal Credit, you can either: add a message to your journal on your Universal Credit account contact the Universal Credit helpline Universal Credit helpline Telephone: 0800 328 5644 Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 328 5644 British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service if you’re on a computer - find out how to use the service on mobile or tablet Welsh language: 0800 328 1744 Textphone: 0800 328 1344 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm Find out about call charges

You’ll need to repay your SMI loan as a lump sum with interest if you sell or transfer ownership of your home. The interest you pay can go up or down, but the rate will not change more than twice a year. The current rate is 3.9%. You’ll be told if this is going to change. Interest will be added every year until the loan is completely repaid or written off. If you die before you’ve paid off your SMI loan, it will not need to be repaid if your home is left to a surviving partner. The loan will need to be repaid if your home is left to anyone else or it’s sold. If you finish paying your mortgage, you will not need to repay your SMI loan unless you sell or transfer ownership of your home. Selling your home You will not be asked to sell your home in order to repay your SMI loan. If you sell your home, you’ll repay the SMI loan from what’s left after you pay: your mortgage any other loans secured against your home before you started getting SMI, including home improvement loans If you do not have enough left to pay off all of the SMI loan, you will have to pay back what you can. The rest of the loan will be written off. Example 1 You sell your property for £95,000. You have £35,000 of your mortgage left to pay and you owe £4,500 for your SMI loan. You’ll be left with £55,500 after repaying your mortgage and SMI loan. Example 2 You sell your property for £80,000. You have £71,000 left to pay in your mortgage and you owe £9,600 for your SMI loan. After repaying your mortgage you only have enough money to pay back £9,000 of your SMI loan. The remaining £600 will be written off and you do not have to repay it. If you’re buying a new home You may be able to transfer the loan to your new home. Contact DWP Loan Management as soon as you know you intend to move, and before you complete your sale. DWP Loan Management Telephone: 0800 916 0567 Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 916 0567 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm Find out about call charges SMI Loan Management Post Handling Site A Wolverhampton WV98 2DS You’ll need to give DWP Loan Management your solicitor’s contact details. They will work with your solicitor to arrange for the loan to be moved to your new home. The office paying your qualifying benefit will also check you’re still eligible. Voluntary repayments If you want to pay the loan back more quickly, you can also make voluntary repayments. The minimum voluntary repayment is £100 or the outstanding balance if it’s less than £100. How to repay Contact DWP Loan Repayment to ask for a ‘settlement letter’ - this will tell you how much you need to pay. You can pay by telephone or online banking using the bank account details in your settlement letter. DWP Loan Repayment Telephone: 0800 916 0567 Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone): 18001 then 0800 916 0567 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm Find out about call charges

If your benefits stop

You can still get financial help with your housing costs if your Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance is going to stop because you are about to: return to work full-time work more hours earn more money

Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)

Overview

If you’re a homeowner or have bought a shared ownership property, you might be able to get help towards interest payments on:

your mortgage
loans you’ve taken out for certain repairs and improvements to your home

This help is called Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI).

This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg) and easy read format.

It’s paid as a loan, which you’ll need to repay with interest when you sell or transfer ownership of your home. You may be able to transfer the loan if you’re buying a new home.

You need to be getting a qualifying benefit to get SMI.

There’s no guarantee that you’ll get SMI for a mortgage or loan you take out.

What you cannot use SMI for

SMI cannot help you pay:

anything towards insurance policies you have
missed mortgage payments (arrears)

Speak to your lender

You could speak to your mortgage lender before you apply for SMI.

Some lenders can offer other ways to help, such as temporary payment holidays, interest-only payments or extending your mortgage term to reduce monthly payments.

Help and support

Check if you can get cost of living support.

You can get free information about housing support from:

View a printable version of the whole guide

Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)

Overview

What you cannot use SMI for

Speak to your lender

Help and support

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Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)

Overview

What you cannot use SMI for

Speak to your lender

Help and support

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Help us improve GOV.UK

Help us improve GOV.UK