An online petition calling on the UK government to allow people to pay their mortgage through their wages before any tax or National Insurance deductions are made, in a similar way to pension contributions, has passed the support threshold that triggers an official response.
The petition, created and posted on the official petitions-parliament website by Aqad Zane, has received more than 23,000 signatures – the threshold is 10,000. At 100,000 signatures of support it would be considered for debate in Parliament.
The ‘Allow people to pay their mortgage through salary sacrifice’ petition proposes that amending the ‘salary sacrifice’ process “would allow more people to become mortgage-free sooner” and could help struggling households during the ongoing cost of living crisis.
It states: “The government should allow all mortgage contributions towards an individual’s main residence or family home to be made through salary sacrifice, prior to tax and national insurance deductions (similar to pension contributions).”
The petition continues: “This would allow more people to become mortgage free sooner in life and put more towards their and their children’s future. It could also help divorced couples, where people are having to start life all over again, on their own, at a late age.
“The rising cost of living and house prices makes paying off a mortgage extremely challenging for many people. The value of the mortgage that people could pay off using salary sacrifice could be capped, so that it only benefited those who are in need.”
The petition is open until August 28, 2023. – read it in full here.
