- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) budget and (b) expenditure of the Home Owners' Support Fund has been in each of the past six years, broken down by the (i) Mortgage to Rent and (ii) Mortgage to Shared Equity schemes, and whether any underspend (A) has been carried forward to 2022-23 and (B) can be carried forward to 2023-24.
Answer
The following table shows Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF) budget and expenditure for each of the last six years broken down by Mortgage to Rent (MTR) and Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE). HOSF is a demand led scheme and any difference between budget and actual spend reflects demand in that year and so there is no underspend or carry forward.
Financial Year | HOSF Budget | HOSF MTR Actual Expenditure | HOSF MTSE Actual Expenditure | Total Expenditure |
(£m) | (£m) | (£m) | (£m) |
2016-17 | 5.000 | 2.980 | 0.000 | 2.980 |
2017-18 | 3.000 | 1.127 | 0.000 | 1.127 |
2018-19 | 2.500 | 1.536 | 0.000 | 1.536 |
2019-20 | 2.500 | 1.191 | 0.000 | 1.191 |
2020-21 | 2.000 | 0.303 | 0.000 | 0.303 |
2021-22 | Figures will be published shortly |
Total (£m) | 15.000 | 7.137 | 0.000 | 7.137 |
Budget and expenditure figures for 2021-22 will be published shortly.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-08749 by Shona Robison on 14 June 2022, and in light of the Bank of England increasing the base rate to 1.75%, when the review
(a) began and (b) will complete, and how it will announce the findings and
outcomes of the review.
Answer
An internal review of the Home Owners Support Fund began in the Spring and will complete later this year. If Ministers decide to make any changes to the eligibility or operational arrangements for the scheme updated guidance will be published.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many Home Owners' Support Fund applications it has processed on an exceptional basis where (a) an eviction notice has been served and (b) a trustee intends to force the sale of the property, broken down by each year of the fund's operation.
Answer
My officials give priority to cases with repossession orders and where a trustee is forcing the sale of a property, the requirement for secured loan payments to be 3 months in arrears will be waived. The Scottish Government does not hold data relating to the number of these types of applications that have been processed.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) enquiries about and (b) applications for the Home Owners' Support Fund it has received in each of the last six years, broken down by the (i) Mortgage to Rent and (ii) Mortgage to Shared Equity schemes, and, of those applications that were received, how many were (A) successful and (B) ineligible.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not collect information on enquiries relating to the Home Owners Support Fund (HOSF). The Mortgage to Rent (MTR) and Mortgage to Shared Equity (MTSE) schemes are delivered as part of the HOSF programme. Each application is assessed on a case by case basis to determine which scheme best meets the applicant’s needs. During the last six years there have been no cases eligible for MTSE, due to the circumstances of applicants not meeting the eligibility criteria, in particular applicants with complex debts.
The following table shows the number of applications received during each of the last six years, the number of applications successfully completed and the number of cases closed due to ineligibility. Mortgage to Rent is a voluntary scheme and participation from applicants, lenders, trustees and social landlords is required for a case to succeed.
Mortgage to Rent Applications* |
Year | Received | Successful | Ineligible |
2016-17 | 113 | 65 | 20 |
2017-18 | 91 | 39 | 17 |
2018-19 | 106 | 32 | 30 |
2019-20 | 79 | 28 | 16 |
2020-21 | 20 | 8 | 7 |
2021-22 | 36 | 9 | 10 |
*Figures for received, successful and ineligible do not necessarily refer to the same cases.
We have received significantly fewer applications during the last two financial years. Regulations were introduced by the Scottish Government that protected homeowners in financial difficulty from repossession at the height of the pandemic. n addition, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and mortgage lenders also put in place temporary measures to assist homeowners facing difficulties in managing their mortgage repayments. From March 2020 to March 2021, mortgage lenders offered payment deferrals of up to six months and whilst those temporary measures have now expired, the FCA continues to work with lenders to help improve and strengthen arrears management and mortgage lenders must demonstrate that they have done everything required to make repossession a matter of last resort.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Home Owners’ Support Fund, what the average processing time has been for (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful applications in each of the last six years, and how many applications in each of the last six years took (i) less than one year (ii) one to two years (iii) two to three years and (iv) more than three years to process.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not collect data in relation to the turnaround of unsuccessful applications. The following table shows the average processing time in months for successful applications during each of the last six years.
Year | Average Processing Time (Months) |
2016-17 | 5 |
2017-18 | 6 |
2018-19 | 9 |
2019-20 | 11 |
2020-21 | 15 |
2021-22 | 20 |
The Home Owners Support Fund is a voluntary scheme and the full co-operation and participation of applicants, social landlords, lenders, solicitors and surveyors is necessary for the smooth and efficient delivery of the scheme. The pandemic made it more difficult to progress cases, particularly as social landlords were unable to visit properties for repairs assessments.
The following table shows the number of successful applications and the timescales, during each of the last six years.
| Number of Successful Applications Processed in |
Year | < 1 Year | 1-2 years | 2-3 | > 3 years |
2016-17 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2017-18 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2018-19 | 29 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
2019-20 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
2020-21 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
2021-22 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government when it last updated the HOSFGN/002: Property Thresholds Guidance for the Home Owners' Support Fund.
Answer
HOSFGN/002 was published in April 2017. The Home Owners Support Fund property threshold guidance is being considered as part of the current review and will be updated if required.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Home Owners’ Support Fund, what (a) written or electronic (i) promotional
materials (ii) briefings and (iii) training and (b) promotional meetings it has
provided or offered to (A) money advisers acting on behalf of applicants (B)
social landlords who are part of the Mortgage to Rent scheme (C) trustees
acting on behalf of applicants (D) UK lenders and (E) others, in the last 12
months.
Answer
Guidance documents for each participant are available at Support for homeowners at risk of homelessness - Homelessness - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). HOSF officials regularly provide support and information to applicants, Money Advisers, Social Landlords, Trustees and Lenders on individual applications.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many staff have been (a) trained and (b) allocated to deal with applications for the Home
Owners' Support Fund, in each of the last six years.
Answer
The following table shows how many staff have been allocated to the Home Owners Support Fund in recent years. Staff are fully trained and highly experienced and levels have been sufficient to meet demand for the Fund.
Financial Year | Number of HOSF Staff |
2015-16 | * |
2016-17 | 6 |
2017-18 | 5 |
2018-19 | 3 |
2019-20 | 3 |
2021-22 to present day | 4 |
* No figure for this year
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 August 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether the HOSFGN/002: Property Thresholds Guidance has been updated for 2022-23 and, if this is not the case, what it estimates (a) the updated property thresholds for the Home Owners’ Support Fund and (b) the number of households with outstanding mortgages with properties under the valuation thresholds would be, had the guidance been updated for 2022-23, broken down by local authority.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-10262 on 7 September 2022.
The Scottish Government does not hold the data requested. Property thresholds are being considered as part of the review.
All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 05 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09619 by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022, whether it will (a)
compile and (b) require local authorities to compile this information to
establish (i) the progress being made to remediate buildings, and (b) how much
remediation is being conducted (A) with the support of the Scottish Government
and (B) privately.
Answer
As the programme progresses, we will gather information from our Single Building Assessments to compile a register of buildings that have been assessed through the programme. Local Authorities will be asked to provide relevant information.
We are currently working with 7 buildings to finalise assessments ahead of remediation. We have asked developers, as part of the Scottish Safer Buildings Accord, to supply data on work that is being undertaken and privately agreed between residents and developers.