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Scotland

Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill: Evidence from Shelter Scotland

By: Shelter Scotland
Published: October 2009

Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill: Evidence from Shelter Scotland

The Scottish Government’s initiative to provide additional help for struggling home-owners is welcome; the Bill is only one part of this package of measures.

The Bill is justified as a response to the recession. Mortgage actions initiated by lenders have risen by 20 per cent and decrees granted by over 50 per cent in the last year. However, even without an economic downturn, there was a strong case for reform of law and practice on mortgage repossessions.

The centre-piece of the Bill is section 4 which sets out what lenders must do before taking repossession action. This is a statutory equivalent to the Pre-Action Protocol in England. However, in the absence of draft regulations, we do not have a complete picture of what these pre-action requirements will be. In our briefing we seek to suggest some options.

We do not believe that the measures will unduly restrict lenders or burden the courts; there are a number of compensating measures which will offset burdens.

The Bill is an important starting point in dealing with the immediate fall-out from difficulties in the housing market. But it needs to be accompanied by measures to ensure a more balanced housing market in the future.