This will make banks even less keen to lend, and will help drive down prises quicker and lower.
Brilliant!
Mess with the laws of economics and the law of unforeseen consequences kicks in and usually makes things worse.
Best the gov't doesn't meddle in the first place.

Np, England, UK

I think the headline says it all. RBS delays repossessions, just means that instead of being ousted in three months it now takes six. If you cant pay the mortgage what difference will an extra three months make?

Bruce, London,

Government control is providing a counterweight to recent sharp banking practice. RBS has been brought into line with reasonable opinion; this can only be in the longer term interests of the bank, home owners and the public who now represent the majority shareholder. Just watch the market reaction!

MICHAEL COLLINS, ECCLES,

This is what we can expect when a bank is nationalized. I admired the style of RBS before the current world financial turmoil. Henceforth, I expect little business acumen to be displayed by this organization. What a pity.

Neil Orman, Titusville, Florida, USA

If you earn above £40k pa. I/you are facing a tax increase of £140 PA, to provide a 3 month stay of execution, for a person/family facing neg. equity. 6 Months, £Circa £280. Plus The tax increase to bail out the banks who lent them the money And yet, I have been unable to afford a bedsit for 10 yrs

Daniel, Leeds,

So the banks are now providing social housing.
If the government are a shareholder of RBOS then surely according to stock market rules they should be making commercial decisions for the benefit of the bank and not for the benefit of getting re elected.

Mike, London,

if you sign up to a contract that says 'your property may be at risk if you do not keep up repayments' then you should expect to face the consequences if you do not keep up the repayments. Those who diligently pay their mortgage should not have to subsidise those who do not.

stuart, london, uk

The cult of the "homeowner" continues! Not that I have anything against home ownership, but what about the millions who could not even get on the first rung of so-called property ladder as prices escalated out of reach? I''ll bet there will be no breathing space for those who cannot pay their rent!

Paul Fisher, Singapore, Singapore

Big deal. No actual change in current practice. If you don't catch up within 6 months, we'll seek to repossess.

Michael, West Midlands,

What are people thinking signing a contract for the largest financial obligation of your life and they don't read it. The moratorium is an attempt by the governement to stall the inevitable and will only result in even higher rates down the line as banks charge more risk premium.

Edward, London,

So - all the borrowers have to do is never admit they've got problems and the repossession proceedings will be delayed for ever + six months!

Kevin Beach, Crawley, England

The lesson that seems to be coming out of recent government policies is don't save (interest rates slashed), borrow as much as you can (we want borrowing at 2007 levels) and even if you can't pay it back everything will be ok (goverment policy on repossessions)

Encouraging debt is not a good thing!

Phil, Welwyn, UK