MORTGAGE ARREARS AND REPOSSESSIONS IN SCOTLAND
Chapter One: Introduction
Research objectives
1.1. At the time of commissioning this research, the Scottish Executive lacked detailed information on mortgage arrears and repossessions in Scotland. The overall aim of the project was to improve understanding of the process of mortgage arrears and repossession and the impact on those who have been affected. The project involved:
- examination of the sources of repossession figures in Scotland, principally the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) figures and the Civil Justice Statistics (CJS) figures. In particular, the increasing trends shown in both sets of figures were investigated
- investigation of mortgage lenders' policies and practices, and
- development of greater understanding of the experiences of those who develop significant mortgage arrears, including those who suffer repossession.
Methods
1.2. The three main components of the research were:
- search and analysis of court records
- a quantitative survey of lenders, followed up by in-depth interviews with a selection of ten, and
- a survey of borrowers' experiences of arrears and repossession. This comprised unstructured exploratory face-to-face interviews, followed by a larger number of semi-structured face-to-face interviews.
structure and content of the report
1.3. The research was exploratory in nature and covered a wide range of themes and survey methods. A lot of information was collected, of varying direct relevance to the main objectives of the research, and many themes were explored from a number of perspectives. The approach taken in reporting is to present the findings from each component of the research separately, but to limit the development of findings at that stage to identifying the principal implications of the data for the main objectives of the research. Synthesis of the implications and presentation of the conclusions of the project as a whole is reserved for the final chapter.
The remainder of the report is set out as follows:
Chapter 2 - Literature Review highlights findings from the relevant literature.
Chapter 3 - Sources of repossession information identifies and describes sources of repossession data in Scotland. An initial review of the data is included.
Chapter 4 - Court Data Investigation provides an analysis of the information held in court case records.
Chapter 5 - Lenders Quantitative Survey sets out the results of a postal survey of lenders operating in Scotland.
Chapter 6 - Lenders Follow-up interviews describes the information obtained in ten follow-up depth interviews.
Chapter 7 - Borrowers Survey presents the information obtained from face-to-face interviews with borrowers who had experienced either serious mortgage arrears or repossession in Scotland.
Chapter 8 - Conclusions assesses the implications of the information obtained from all the modules of the research.
There are annexes which provide additional detail. These are:
Annex 1: Glossary
Annex 2: Information contained in Court Registers
Annex 3: Court research: detailed findings
Annex 4: Compiling the list of lenders
Annex 5: CML statement on debt following mortgage possession
Annex 6: Outcome of piloting methods of contact for borrowers
Annex 7: Borrowers Case Studies