The latest one, starting on 21 April 2009, allows some home owners who suffer a sharp drop in income to defer up to 70% of their mortgage interest payments, for up to two years.  

The Homeowners Mortgage Support Scheme (HMSS) is being supported mainly by lenders in which the government has a big or controlling stake, but most UK lenders have said that they will broadly follow the principles of the plan with their own borrowers who are in trouble.

So what are the new measures?  

People made redundant or who face a significant loss of income will be allowed to defer a proportion of interest payments for up to two years.

They will still have to pay back that money eventually, though. This could help families with one earner who has become redundant, a homeowner who has suffered a significant loss of overtime, or people who have had to take a lower-paid job.

The main limit is a mortgage can be no larger than £400,000, and homeowners must not have savings of more than £16,000.

The deferred payments will be added on to repayments for the rest of the term, ideally when people are able to find a new job.

The Treasury will underwrite the extra risk taken by lenders.

That means if someone eventually defaults, the government will pay the lender 80% of the missed interest payments.

This plan is in addition to the two other main schemes.

One gives more income support than before to unemployed homeowners with mortgage interest payments to pay.

And the other, called a mortgage rescue scheme, lets some homeowners who are threatened with repossession be converted into housing association tenants, while staying in their homes.  

The government is helping, through changes to income support for mortgage interest, the mortgage rescue scheme, and now the home-owner mortgage support scheme.

What existing help is there for people behind with their payments?

Banks have agreed that repossession must only be a last resort. They should point people to the help available from independent advisers and charities. We would strongly recommend that Christians contact CCCS an independent charity offering completely free advice.  You will find a link to CCCS on our website.

They should also offer payment holidays and consider offers of temporary reductions in repayments.  Nationalised banks like the Northern Rock bank and Bradford & Bingley now wait six months before repossessing homes of mortgage borrowers who fall into arrears. The banks are copying the example of RBS NatWest, now under majority state control.

Other major lenders have previously agreed to wait three months before starting any repossession proceedings.

Is there any specific financial assistance already available? There is financial help for people who have lost their job.

People on income support or claiming job seekers allowance (JSA) are able to apply for government money to help repay the interest on their mortgages.

The waiting period for those on income support, or JSA, has been cut from 39 weeks to 13.  The maximum value of the mortgage on which the interest is repaid has gone up to £200,000. Around 200,000 people are already claiming this benefit, known as Income Support for Mortgage Interest.

The new help is limited to two years for new JSA claimants, on the grounds that they should be able to get a job within that time.