A report published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has called for the introduction of the Sustainable Home Ownership Partnership (Shop) scheme.

The scheme is a partnership between the government, lenders and borrowers and provides a cheaper form of insurance than other private insurance products that are available.

JRF notes that around 25 per cent more home owners would face repossession if the economy were to find itself under similar circumstances as the ones in 1992, at the pinnacle of the housing market collapse.

Report co-author Mark Stephens from the Centre for Housing Policy said: "Since 1995, restrictions to the state safety net mean home-owners have to wait nine months for any help. Take-up of private insurance is so low that only one-fifth of home-owners are protected."

Co-author Steve Wilcox agreed, saying that the 1995 policy is not working and that "vulnerable" home owners are "more exposed to risk" than they were in 1992


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