Westminster blog

Due to a presentational balls-up, one housing policy – arguably the most substantial of today’s package - has been widely overlooked.

This is the strengthening of support for people who lose their jobs to keep paying their mortgages: Income Support for Mortgage Interest (ISMI).

Until the mid-1990s this was available for a large proportion of the public; it was axed by Peter Lilley in a bid to get people to take out their own employment insurance. That idea was largely a failure.

Now the government has strengthened the safety net again; up to a point. The waiting period for receiving ISMI (after losing your job) will shorten from 39 weeks to 13 weeks and the capital limit for claims will be raised from £100,000 to £175,000. The cost of the change will be an estimated £100m.

I’m told this could help roughly 20,000 people over two years.

It’s a tangible measure; but was left off the press notice handed out to the media at about 6pm last night. Apparently the PM and chancellor were debating it until late into the night. Today, it will be overshadowed by the stamp duty announcement which is less helpful but more expensive.