ROOF Blog

Twice as many people are losing their homes due to evictions by social landlords than mortgage repossessions, Shelter Scotland has warned. It found that 13.1 out of every thousand social housing tenants had an evictions decree granted against them, mostly for rent arrears. The rate for homeowners was 6.8 per thousand. The body representing councils, Cosla, disputed the figures, arguing that the number of tenants taken to court and the numbers of tenants councils had evicted was only half the level Shelter Scotland found. Shelter Scotland called on the Scottish government to offer protection to tenants comparable to that developed for homeowners.

The government is considering forcing mortgage lenders to give more notice to tenants who could be evicted if their buy-to-let landlord faces repossession. Currently lenders must send a letter to tenants at least two weeks in advance of a repossession hearing involving their landlord, but changes are planed to increase this to seven weeks. Lenders argue that they already make every effort to contact tenants who could be evicted. Landlords with buy-to-let mortgages are now falling behind on their repayments more quickly than owner-occupiers according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ latest figures.