Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI)

What you'll get

If you qualify for Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI), you’ll get help paying the interest on up to £200,000 of your loan or mortgage. This figure is £100,000 if:


The interest rate used to calculate the amount of SMI you’ll get is currently 2.61%.

What you’ll pay back

SMI is paid as a loan. You’ll need to repay the money you get with interest when you sell or transfer ownership of your home.

The interest added to the loan can go up or down, but the rate will not change more than twice a year. The current rate is 1.3%.

If you want to pay the loan back more quickly, you can also make voluntary repayments. The minimum voluntary repayment is £100 or the outstanding balance if it’s less than £100.

How SMI is paid

SMI is normally paid direct to your lender.

Payments can start either:

  • from the date you start getting Pension Credit
  • after you’ve had 9 consecutive Universal Credit payments
  • after you’ve claimed any other qualifying benefit for 39 consecutive weeks