Scheme promotes social stability
Home ownership is one of the basic requirements for social stability and inclusion in a fair society. Vulnerable individuals and their families face enormous obstacles to achieving the minimum quality-of-life standards that many others take for granted.
One of these obstacles is the list of demanding conditions that banks impose on those applying for a mortgage. Banks almost invariably require borrowers to provide a life insurance policy to ensure that the family will not necessarily have to sell their home to repay the bank if the owner dies prematurely.
Persons with a poor medical record have so far found it almost impossible to find an insurance company prepared to provide life cover for the duration of the loan because of the higher risk involved. One can understand the commercial logic of banks’ risk-based policies for granting mortgages to persons with a poor medical record. However, in such circumstances the state, in its mission to promote social stability in the community, has the moral obligation to provide shock absorbers.
The government has just done so with its announcement of the scheme New Hope, which will see the state stepping in as guarantor for those who lack...