Repossession orders rocket

The number of homeowners targeted leapt in November to 244 – well over double the number of the previous month – as more people failed to keep up their payments.

There was virtually no let-up over the holiday season as a further 235 bids for repossession orders were made in December.

A total of 282 repossessions were granted during November and December, around three in five of the cases brought to court. That contrasts to just 50 homes repossessed in September.

Staff at homeless charity Shelter Scotland are increasingly busy dealing with repossession queries. The charity's director Graeme Brown said: "This indicates the severity of the housing crisis in Edinburgh and across Scotland.

"Each repossession case is an individual and social tragedy, and must be prevented where possible. People facing housing problems shouldn't bury their head in the sand and should seek advice as early as possible."

Scott Fraser is a director of Broughton-based McEwan Fraser, which brokers properties to private investors as an alternative to sale on the open market.

A small, but growing part of the business is in buying homes from people facing repossession and renting them back to the former owners.

He said: "I've noticed an increase in the number of people contacting us who are in that cycle – either they're days away from repossession, or in the early throes, but certainly there's a significant increase in inquiries from people who you would class as 'distressed sellers'.

"We didn't set out to look for distressed sales, but as more and more people have realised that the traditional marketplace is drying up, they're looking for deals."

The city council launched a 14 million scheme earlier this week to help people facing homelessness.

The Scottish Government also announced yesterday that it would invest an extra 10m in the Home Owners' Support Fund to help people avoid repossession.

City housing leader, Councillor Paul Edie, said he thought the situation would get worse before it got better.