6000 families lost their homes last year as they failed to pay mortgages. The problem is MANY of these people could have been helped to keep their homes and NOT become a homeless family and hence burden on the state if the circumstances of their non-payment were tidied up!

Many of these people fell foul of loan sharks who overcharge interest and cause the debt spiral to end in default. The removal of these crooks will also help reduce the number of defaulters and repossessions.

Now a private members bill will give the Scottish sheriff the ability to look for other solutions other than eviction. This bill from Cathy Craigie reinforces all the work of Sheridan last year.