Repossession pledge by government

The report called for existing legal protection to apply in all cases

New legislation that makes it harder for mortgage lenders to repossess homes has been promised by the Scottish Government.

However, opposition parties have described the move as a long-overdue "climbdown".

Labour said Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon should apologise personally to families that had lost their homes because of her "inaction".

The government pledge followed a report on repossessions by industry experts.

They included lawyers, mortgage lenders, debt advisers and consumer bodies.

It also comes after a BBC Scotland investigation found Scottish homeowners could be more vulnerable to repossession than those in England.

The new report called for legislation to ensure that existing legal protection for mortgage payers applies in all repossession cases, not just in actions that are defended.

It said legislation should also require lenders to show they have considered every reasonable alternative to repossession.

I am calling on Nicola Sturgeon to personally apologise to every family that has lost their home as a result of her inaction

Cathy Jamieson
Labour MSP

The group was set up in January to assess whether existing legal protection for homeowners needed to be strengthened.

Ms Sturgeon, the health and wellbeing secretary, said: "With Scotland bearing the brunt of a global economic downturn, house repossessions are causing misery for many Scottish families.

"That's why we moved quickly, and set up this group asking specifically for recommendations that would help alleviate the distress caused by the threat of repossession.

"We will now take forward the group's recommendations to assist homeowners facing the threat of repossession."

'Long overdue'

However, Labour said this was too vague and demanded the government bring forward legislation immediately.

Cathy Jamieson said: "Scottish Labour first called on Nicola Sturgeon to provide homeowners in Scotland with greater protection against repossession in November last year."

"Nicola Sturgeon refused to act on our call for a Scottish equivalent of the pre-action protocols which impose a legal obligation on courts and lenders in England to make repossession a last resort.

"Today's report proves that she was wrong."

She added that since then more than 500 new actions for repossession had been raised in Glasgow alone.

Ms Jamieson added: "I am also calling on Nicola Sturgeon to personally apologise to every family that has lost their home as a result of her inaction." Liberal Democrat housing spokesman Ross Finnie said: "This is an embarrassing climbdown from the SNP and a victory for common sense.

"For the last six months the health secretary has ignored calls from campaigners to make sure that Scots are afforded the same level of protection as homeowners in England.

"Although long overdue, I am pleased that the SNP has finally admitted they got it wrong."