Repossessions in the UK increased from to 26,200 in 2007 to 46,000 in 2009 1. In light of the increasing number of repossessions, the Scottish Government established a repossessions group in January 2009 to consider how homeowners can be best protected in light of the economic downturn. Membership of the group included representatives of the legal system, lenders, advice agencies and consumer interests. It was independently chaired by Adrian Stalker.
Minutes of Meetings and final Report
Minutes from the group's meetings are available below:
The group's final report was published in June 2009.
Home Owner and Protection (Scotland) Act 2010
Following the publication of the Repossessions Group's report, the Scottish Government introduced the Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Bill to take forward its recommendations on legislative protection for home owners at risk of repossession. It received Royal Assent on 18 March 2010. The Act can be viewed here .
Protection of tenants
The Repossessions Group reconvened in March 2010 to consider the protection of tenants of landlords whose property is at risk of repossession. Minutes of the group's meeting are available below:
The group's final report was published in June 2010.
The group's recommendation on strengthening legislation is being taken forward through the Housing Bill .
Information available under the freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
In June 2009, the Scottish Government received a request for copies of all correspondence between the housing and homelessness charity Shelter and Scottish Government Ministers and their officials which relate to or mention repossessions since May 2007.
The Scottish Government handled the request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and provided information that was requested. Because of the large number of individual items, it has produced a CD of the documents released. This is available by contacting the Housing Support Team .
1 Source: Council of Mortgage Lenders. There are no separate Scottish figures available.