Scottish council bans eviction for rent arrears

Stirling council has become the first local authority in Scotland to ban the practice of evicting tenants who fall behind on their rent payments. Latest figures show the authority had evicted 23 such tenants in 2008, in moves the councillors called ‘draconian’. Shelter Scotland said it was delighted with the move and called on other councils to follow Stirling’s lead, stating that more than 97 per cent of the 3,577 evictions by councils and housing associations in 2007 and 2008 were for tenants who had fallen into arrears.