The Scottish government has begun to think of measures to help tenants who have had their landlords fail to pay their mortgages, BBC News has reported. This could result in consultation in repossession proceedings for tenants of some landlords.
?Unauthorised tenant? repossessions affect up to 300 families a year. This happens due to the owner failing to tell the lender the property is being let, which sometimes means they fall behind on the mortgage and eventually repossession happens.
There are fears that the amount of people who could be made homeless by this problem could increase due to the buy-to-let market increasing in recent years. Housing Minister Alex Neil said: ?The tenant is then out on the street, through no fault of their own.?
This coming Friday will see the launch of a discussion paper which will study how to provide a period of protection, which will give them time to find alternative accommodation.
Mr Neil said: ?I would like to give them the opportunity to appear in the repossession hearing to give their case to the sheriff, so the sheriff can ensure he is dealing fairly with anyone adversely affected by the repossession through no fault of their own.? The Scottish government is not set on issuing a fixed period at the moment, despite the fact that England and Wales have thought about giving a two-month waiting period for tenants in this position.
Mr Neil said: ?We are not yet committed to this because we are only at the discussion stage and we have to balance the rights of the tenant with the rights of the lender. Clearly the lender has lent the money in good faith to the person who borrowed the money ? but the person who borrowed the money hasn’t kept their side of the bargain in telling the lender that they have taken tenants.?
Once the consultation process is completed, proposals are expected to be put before MSPs in the form of amendments to the Home Owner and Debtor (Protection) Bill in Scotland.
