Support for Mortgage Interest

A pile of money next to a house, a drill and a hammer.

What is Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)?

Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) is help you can get to pay the interest on:

your mortgage or
a loan to help you make changes to your home.

A woman smiling with some bags of money beside her. She is looking at a house which has a sold sign outside it.

A lot of people get a mortgage when they buy their home.

An arrow pointing from some bags of money to a house with a sold sign outside.

A mortgage is a loan to help you buy a home.

A five pound note being passed from one person to another.

A loan is when you borrow money from a person or a company.

A woman holding out her hands and offering some money.

You have to pay back the money you borrowed.

A woman holding out her hands and offering some money and an extra pile of money beside her.

You usually have to pay extra money as well as the money you borrowed.

The extra money is called interest.

A bag of money with the letters DWP beside it.

Support for Mortgage Interest is a loan from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).

Some people call Support for Mortgage Interest SMI.

A man standing in front of leaflets about different benefits

Who can get Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)?

You might be able to get SMI if you get any of these benefits:

Universal Credit
Pension Credit
Income Support
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance.

A house next to a hand with a lot of money in it

How do I apply for SMI?

You should be asked about your housing costs when you apply for:

Universal Credit
Pension Credit
Income Support
Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance .

If you tell the DWP that you have a mortgage or a loan to help you make changes to your home when you apply for the benefit, the DWP should contact you to ask you if you would like to apply for SMI.

The DWP will give you some more information about SMI to help you to decide if you want to apply for it.

A woman talking to another woman who is sitting beside her at a table.

You should get some money advice before you apply for a SMI loan.

How does SMI work?

If you get SMI, the DWP will pay some of the interest on your mortgage or your loan to help you make changes to your home.

A bag of money with the letters DWP beside it and an arrow pointing to a high rise building and a man on the phone at a desk.

The DWP will pay the money to the company you borrowed the money from.

A red cross beside a bag of money with the letters DWP beside it and an arrow pointing to a man.

The DWP will not pay the money to you.

SMI only pays some of the interest on the mortgage or the loan.

A man with a bag of money and an arrow pointing to a man in an office.

You will still have to pay the mortgage or the loan to the company you borrowed the money from.

How do I pay back the money I have borrowed for the SMI?

You have to pay back the SMI loan when you sell your home or give your home to someone else.

A bag of money with a plus sign and a pile of notes.

You will have to pay back the money you borrowed for the SMI loan, plus the interest.

A bag of money with the letters DWP beside it and an arrow pointing away from the bag.

You can pay back your SMI loan at any time if you do not want to wait until you sell your home or until you give your home to someone else.

A man holding his hand up in front of him with a stern look on his face

You can ask the DWP to stop paying your SMI money at any time if you do not want to carry on getting the SMI money.

If you move home, you can move your SMI loan to your new home.

A house with a sold sign and a woman with an empty purse.

If you sell your home and pay off the mortgage, you might find that you do not have enough money to pay back all of the SMI loan.

A woman in a wheelchair with a bag of money beside her.

You only have to pay the money that you have.

The DWP will not ask you to pay back the rest of the SMI loan.

Before you take out a mortgage or a loan, always think carefully about how you will pay back the money.