Scottish Parliament passes Home Owner and Debtor Protection Bill

The issue of home repossessions is complex and vexed. In the last week week there was a bit of a media storm when the UK Housing Minister, John Healey, told Victoria Derbyshire on Radio Five Live that for many people repossession was a blessing.

When the inevitable row broke out, he held fast to his opinion, insisting that where people had got in over their head in debt through foolishly heavy mortgage commitments, repossession was in fact a relief as it saw the end of the pressure of the struggle to pay.

Some members of the public supported him, others, with a recent repossession leaving a fresh experiential scar, could not believe that anyone could see it this way.

However, the UK Minister made no recognition of the fact that it was his government’s ‘regulation with a light touch’ that had enabled banks and building societies to offer the irresponsibly large ‘toxic’ mortgages that helped to bring down the banks, launch the recession and breed repossessions.

The good news is that now, here, the Scottish Parliament has just unanimously passed into law, the Home Owner and Debtor Protection Bill.

This provides greater protection for homeowners faced with repossession, in particular by:

• ensuring that all repossession cases are heard in court (except where there is evidence that the property has been voluntarily abandoned)
• requiring all lenders to demonstrate in court that they have taken reasonable steps to avoid repossession.

The Bill also allows for lay representation from approved organisations to be accepted in court. This:

• makes it easier for homeowners to present a defence;
• extends the debt relief offered by bankruptcy to some who cannot presently meet bankruptcy criteria. It does this by introducing a certificated route into bankruptcy;
• extends the protection currently offered for the family home in bankruptcy and to trust deeds.

Argyll’s MSP, Jim Mather,  says: ‘This successful passage of this new legislation has been steered by my colleague, Housing and Communities Minister, Alex Neil.

‘It will offer support to those families in Argyll and Bute who, because of the economic recession, find themselves caught in a debt trap, putting family homes and subsequently the family unit itself, at risk.  T

‘They will now be protected by the full weight of the law.

‘Our response, embodied in this Bill, has been to act quickly to introduce more protection for home owners and to offer support to those people who currently cannot access debt solutions.

‘We will ensure that lenders, the courts, the advice sector and others are fully prepared for the implementing of the provisions in the Bill and  continue in the spirit of co-operation that has been a feature of discussions among all political parties in the chamber.’