Seven months after claiming that Scottish homeowners do not need extra protection from repossession the SNP government has been forced to admit that, er, they do.
The u-turn by deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon follows publication of a report by the independent repossessions working group that recommends new safeguards. In particular, the report highlights the need to extend protection to all repossession cases - not just those where the homeowner defends the action - and for legislation to require lenders to show that they have considered every reasonable alternative to repossession.
In November Sturgeon had said that Scotland described the new protections being introduced in England as ‘spin’ and ‘misleading’ but protests by other parties forced her to set up the working group.
Labour’s Cathy Jamieson accused her of ‘arrogance, complacency and ineptitude’ that had cost thousands of Scots their homes. And today Labour leader Iain Gray called on first minister Alex Salmond to return from holiday and introduce emergency legislation.
But before Labour, or the English, get too full of themselves, they might want to consider the growing evidence of gaps in the safety net south of the border too.
Take the mortgage arrears pre-action protocol. A survey of advisers last month found that half of mainstream lenders have improved their practices since it was introduced in October - but only a fifth of sub-prime lenders. While repossession actions have gone down, there is still a question whether they have gone away or just been delayed.
The longer the housing market crash continues the longer the list grows of victims of the reckless lending and borrowing that preceded it.
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