Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-10560

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-09497 by Shona Robison on 19 July 2022, what the scope of the preliminary work is; when the preliminary work began; when ministers requested a proposal be submitted for approval; how many staff have been committed to the preliminary work; which stakeholders it has met to determine the extent of the work; how many homeowners and their representatives it has engaged with, and how it would fund buy-outs.

The work to design a potential homeowner assistance scheme is in the discovery phase which involves defining the scope of any potential scheme and evaluating the suitability of existing forms of assistance. This also includes identifying a resilient funding and delivery model. This discovery phase relies on existing resources until such time as a proposal is approved. This discovery phase work began during summer recess and is scheduled to completed in the coming weeks. Officials have regular engagement with potential delivery partners and homeowners as part of the overall process and additional discussions will be undertaken prior to any scheme launch.

Question reference: S6W-10557

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 25 August 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 20 September 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many requests it has received from the affordable housing supply sector for an early review of benchmarks in accordance with the scenarios envisaged in the Report on the work of the 2021 Affordable Housing Investment Benchmarks Working Group.

Question reference: S6W-10245

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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.

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

Question reference: S6W-10243

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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.

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.

Question reference: S6W-10237

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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, what modelling it is undertaking to establish (a) the likely number of future applications to the fund and (b) any risk of homelessness among mortgage payers, in light of the Bank of England increasing the base rate to 1.75% and reports that inflation could reach 13% by October 2022.

The Scottish Government monitors trends in arrears and repossessions data published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and UK Finance which is collated in the quarterly Scottish Housing Market Review Scottish housing market reviews - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

The Home Owners Support Fund is a last resort scheme aimed at properties at the lowest 20% of the housing market. Applicants must have either mortgage arrears or have an interest only mortgage that has reached the end of its term and have no appropriate option to either repay the loan or to re-mortgage. There are a range of protections, advice and support services already in place for homeowners and not all of those affected by the current cost of living crisis will apply to the scheme.

Question reference: S6W-10241

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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.

Question reference: S6W-10239

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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.

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
Financial Year	(£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.

Question reference: S6W-10238

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 August 2022
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.

Question reference: S6W-10426

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 August 2022
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.

Question reference: S6W-10240

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 August 2022
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.

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