State benefits for homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage after losing their jobs are to be paid more quickly and will be paid to more people from today, the government has announced. Support for mortgage interest benefit has been extended to include mortgage up to £200,000, double the previous limit, while the waiting period to qualify has been reduced by two-thirds to 13 weeks. At the same time eight lenders have joined a separate government scheme allowing mortgage holders to defer part of their interest payments and designed to cushion the blow of an economic downturn.