Thousands of homeowners in Scotland could be living one pay packet away from a housing crisis, Shelter Scotland revealed today (Tuesday).

New figures from the housing charity show almost a third of homeowners with a mortgage have no savings or investments, therefore running the risk of being unable to meet mortgage payments, and at worst becoming homeless, if there was any long term drop in household income.

The shocking new statistics come amid concerns over the direction of the housing market and after warnings that the number of repossessions could rise this year.

The figures show that 265,000 households in Scotland have a mortgage but no savings or investments. (1) They come on the back of figures showing the charity has seen a sharp rise in the number of visits to its repossessions advice pages on its website. (2)

Archie Stoddart, director of Shelter Scotland, said: 'These stark new figures show how thousands of people in Scotland could be at risk of finding themselves in a housing crisis, and at worst, homeless. Too few homeowners realise how fragile their finances are until they hit an unexpected crisis, which prevents them from paying their mortgage and other bills.

'We aren’t saying this will happen to everyone, but with the potential for unsettling times ahead we must ensure we have a better safety net in place for homeowners who experience difficulties with their mortgage payments. Perhaps, however, the most far-reaching solution is to promote alternatives to homeownership to ensure those who can’t actually afford a home don’t feel they have no other option but to overstretch their finances in an attempt to get a house.'

Shelter is calling for significant improvements to be made to the current safety net to support people with difficulty in meeting mortgage repayments, and other measures including better recording of information on repossessions in Scotland. (3)

In response to the concerns over the future of the housing market, Shelter has pulled together key commentators on Scottish housing and the economy for a summit this week to look at the state of the housing market and its future.

The summit on May 22 – 'The Scottish Housing Bubble' – will examine the prospects for the Scottish housing market. Professor Steve Wilcox, who compiled the recently published ROOF Affordability Index, is one of the experts speaking at the Shelter event. Also speaking will be Jonathan Fair, chief executive of Homes for Scotland, and Dr John Bone from Aberdeen University. For more information about the May 22 event, visit www.shelter.org.uk/housingbubble

Notes to Editors:

1. There are estimated to be 2.3 million households in Scotland - General Register Office for Scotland (2006). According to Scottish Household Survey information for 2005-06 (published in August 2007) 36 per cent of these have a home with a mortgage (828,000 households). Further information supplied by the Scottish Household Survey team at the Scottish Government states that 32 per cent of these households have no savings or investments, which means, 265,000 households have a mortgage and no savings or investments.
2. Figures released by Shelter Scotland in January showed, when comparing October to January 2006/7 and 2007/8, that the number of page views rose by 42 per cent year on year. Throughout 2007, Shelter Scotland’s web pages that provide advice on repossession were viewed nearly 35,000 times.
3. A short media briefing on the figures and Shelter Scotland’s solutions is available from the media office.
4. Shelter believes everyone should have a home and helps 170,000 people a year fight for their rights, get back on their feet, and find and keep a home. We also tackle the root causes of Britain's housing crisis by campaigning for new laws, policies and solutions.
5. Spokespeople are available for interview, telephone the media office on 0844 515 2442. An ISDN line number is available for broadcast interviews.
6. For more information about Shelter visit www.shelter.org.uk