Support for Mortgage Interest Loan is help towards paying the interest payments on your mortgage or other loans for home purchase, repairs and home improvements. This help is in the form of a loan.

If you are on Universal Credit, you can also get a Support for Mortgage Interest Loan for help with interest payments on other loans that are secured on the home you occupy or treated as occupying (whatever the purpose of the loan).

If you are on Universal Credit or Guarantee Pension Credit, you can also get a Support for Mortgage Interest Loan to help with payments made under alternative finance arrangements (for example an Islamic mortgage) to help you acquire an interest in your home.

Before 6 April 2018, Support for Mortgage Interest was paid in the form of a benefit. However, now it is paid as a loan. You have to pay interest on the amount of loan help provided.

You have to repay the loan when you sell or transfer ownership of the property if there is enough equity in the property, unless you are selling it and buying a different property within 12 weeks. Equity means the money you have left from selling the property after you pay off the mortgage and any other loans secured on the property.

Applies to: England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

Administered by: Department for Work and Pensions

Some of the rules and calculations described in this information sheet are very complicated so we recommend that you get further advice. You can use the Find an Adviser tool on our website to find a local benefits adviser.

Updated: June 2022

Homeowners (or people treated as liable for owner-occupier payments) who are entitled to one of the following benefits could get Support for Mortgage Interest:

• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit 

Owner-occupiers can also get help with leasehold service charges paid in with the above benefits. Help with service charges is not in the form of a loan. You can also receive help with ground rent paid in with Income Support, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Pension Credit.

If you only qualify for New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance or contributory/New Style Employment and Support Allowance you will not be eligible for Support for Mortgage Interest Loan.

You have to serve the relevant waiting period before you can get the Support for Mortgage Interest Loan. This is normally 39 weeks for Income Support, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, and three months for Universal Credit. There is no waiting period for Pension Credit.

You don't have to serve a new relevant waiting period if you return to claim one of the benefits in the above list. This is valid for a year beginning with the day on which you stop being entitled, or treated as entitled. This period is six months for Universal Credit.

The DWP will not do a credit check when offering you a loan; and taking the loan will not affect your credit rating. However, interest will be applied daily to the loan, so you have to get as much information as possible before deciding whether or not a loan is the right option for you.

In most cases, people who rent their home cannot get help with housing costs in this way. Instead, they should claim Housing Benefit (England, Scotland and Wales) or Housing Benefit (Northern Ireland). or Universal Credit housing costs element if they are a Universal Credit claimant.

Updated: April 2023

It can be complicated to work out how much Support for Mortgage Interest Loan (SMI) you might get. You can use the Turn2us Benefits Calculator which will calculate how much you may be entitled to.

You won't get any Support for Mortgage Interest Loan until you have been getting Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), or income-related Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) for nine months or Universal Credit for three months. If you're getting Pension Credit, then there is no waiting period before you can get the Support for Mortgage Interest Loan.

Housing costs for loans, whether that is a mortgage, home purchase loan or qualifying home improvement loan, are calculated using a standard rate of interest, not your lender’s actual interest rate for your loan. This means that if your interest rate is higher, there may be a shortfall between the help provided and your contractual payment.

The interest rate used to calculate SMI is 3.16%.

There are also restrictions on the help provided if your mortgage or loan was taken out or increased after you became entitled to one of the means-tested benefits which qualify you for Support for Mortgage Interest Loan or if your housing costs are deemed excessive.

In most cases, there is also an upper limit on the total loan amount that can be included in your claim. The upper loan limit is usually £200,000 if you claim Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit. For Guarantee Pension Credit, the upper limit is normally £100,000. However, if you were getting Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance or Income-based Employment and Support Allowance with an upper limit of £200,000, and you went on to claim Pension Credit, the higher £200,000 upper limit continues to apply.

What if I have another adult living with me?

If you have other adults living with you who aren’t your partner and do not have to pay rent, they might be treated as your non-dependant . This means that an amount will be taken off your SMI Loan because this other person is expected to help with household costs. This will only apply if you get an SMI Loan because you get JSA, ESA, Income Support or Pension Credit. If you get an SMI Loan because you receive Universal Credit, you won’t have money deducted for non-dependants " target="_self" class="link--block">See full definition . 

You won’t have money taken off your SMI loan for a non-dependant if:

• You (or your partner) are certified blind or severely sight impaired, or
• You (or your partner) receive Attendance Allowance, the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment Scotland, the care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP).

You also won’t have any money taken off your SMI loan for any other adult who:

• Is a full time student; or
• Is under 18; or
• Is under 25 and getting 
  • Universal Credit and isn’t earning anything, or
  • income-based JSA, or
  • Income Support; or
• Gets Pension Credit 

If money is taken off your SMI loan for another adult, how much is taken off depends on the other adult’s earnings. It is important to make sure the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has accurate information about the other adult’s earnings so they can make the right decision about your SMI loan.

How will I be paid Support for Mortgage Interest Loan?

The payment is usually made direct to the lender. You can not get help towards the amount you borrowed - only the interest.

There are no time limits on how long you can receive the Support for Mortgage Interest Loan, providing you still meet the qualifying conditions.

Support for Mortgage Interest Loan run-on

If you or your partner enter full-time employment, you might qualify for a Support for Mortgage Interest Loan run-on for four weeks, even though your entitlement to Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) or income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) will stop. This does not apply if you are getting Support for Mortgage Interest with Universal Credit.

You don't have to make a claim. It will be paid automatically once you let Jobcentre Plus know you are starting full-time work.

Updated: June 2023

To claim a Support for Mortgage Interest Loan, you need to contact the office that pays your benefit. You can find the contact details on the gov.uk website.

I don't want the loan, what do I do?

You don't have to accept the loan if you don't want to.

However, it is important to come to some arrangement to pay your future mortgage or secured loan payments. If you do not do this, payments to your mortgage will stop and you may begin to run up arrears. This could mean that your mortgage lender could eventually take court action to evict you from your home.

If you require help and support on this you will need to speak to an independent financial adviser. Use the Unbiased website to find an independent financial adviser. You will usually need to pay a fee for this advice. Make sure you know in advance how much the fee will be and that you can afford it.

Change of circumstances

You must report changes in your circumstances which might affect your entitlement to the loan.

Updated: June 2022

You have to pay back the loan and the interest added to it, when you sell or transfer ownership of your property providing there is enough equity left, unless you are selling your home and buying another within 12 weeks.  A charging order is placed on your property so that you have to pay it back when you sell it or transfer it to another person. There are some exceptions to this, such as if you transfer the property to your ex-spouse under a court order.

Interest is charged on the loan, which is added to the loan you have to pay back. Interest is charged based on the government’s rate of borrowing and that can vary (go up or down) during the life of your loan.

If you stop receiving the loan, because you are no longer on a relevant benefit, or you choose to stop the loan, interest will still be charged at a daily rate.

What happens if there is no money left when I sell my home?

If there is no equity available when the property is sold or ownership transferred, the loan is written off.  If there is some money available from the sale to pay towards the loan, but not enough to pay off the whole of the loan, then the money available goes towards paying off the loan and the rest of the loan is written off.  

If you are in mortgage arrears, then money from the sale will first go towards paying off the mortgage arrears. Only if there is money available after the payment of mortgage arrears, will it go towards the loan.

What happens if I don’t sell or transfer my home?

If you don’t sell or transfer ownership of your property, then you do not have to pay back the loan. However, if someone inherits the property from you, they will be liable to pay off the loan and accrued interest.

If your partner inherits the property from you, they will only be liable to pay off the loan and accrued interest if they sell or transfer ownership of the property.  

If anyone else inherits the property from you (e.g. an adult son or daughter or other non-dependant ), they will become liable to pay back the loan and the interest at the point that:

• You die, if you are single.
• The last surviving partner has passed away, if you are in a couple.

Can I pay back the loan before my home is sold?

You don’t have to make repayments of the loan unless you want to. 

However, if you wish, you can make payments off the loan if your situation improves. (The minimum payment you can make is £100, unless the total owed is less than that). However interest continues to be charged on the loan until it is paid off in full.

If you stop receiving the loan, because you are no longer on a relevant benefit, or you choose to stop the loan, interest will still be charged at a daily rate.

Can I decide to stop receiving the loan?

You can decide to stop receiving the loan at any point. However, interest continues to be charged at a daily rate until it is paid off in full.

Is taking out a loan my best option?

We can’t advise you on what you should do. You will be charged interest on the Support for Mortgage interest loan and a charge will be placed on your property. You should, therefore, get as much advice and information as possible and carefully consider your options.

No one will be able to predict how high interest rates will rise or fall; and how well the housing market will perform. If you are considering selling your property in the future, then the loan and interest will eat into any return you will get from it.

If you require help and support on this, you could try contacting the following organisations:

• England and Wales: MoneyHelper or Citizens Advice 

• Scotland: Citizens Advice Scotland

• Northern Ireland: Citizens Advice Northern Ireland 

You can also use our Find an Adviser tool, to find out what local advice exists in your area.

June 2022

If you have been refused a loan or disagree with the amount awarded, you can challenge the decision in the same way that you would normally challenge a benefits decision.  This means asking for a mandatory reconsideration first, before appealing.

Reviewed: June 2022