The SMI is paid as a loan, which the person will need to repay with interest when he or she dies, sells or transfers ownership of their home.
With SMI ending in April 2018, saving the government about £170 million a year, the Department for Work and Pensions is offering a loan, secured on the recipient's property, a move criticised because it would put properties of people on low incomes at risk; the cessation affects about 124,000 people.
[3] SMI cannot help to pay: Support for mortgage interest can be also used to cover some other costs, but only under the conditions that: If the conditions for getting the loan were fulfilled, then the payment is not made right away it takes 39 weeks from the time when the Support for Mortgage Interests was claimed.
The government can pay the interest up to £200,000 of the mortgage (but if the person is on the Pension Credit then up to £100,000).
The SMI only covers the interest rate of the mortgage, not the actual amount that was borrowed.