Meeting of the Parliament 23 November 2022
Thank you, Presiding Officer. In her amendment, the cabinet secretary misjudges the level of financial trauma that is already taking place across Scotland. It is not just the households with the lowest incomes that are struggling. The system needs to be ready to deal with people’s financial hardship.
The review has been on-going for months, so I hope that the Government will set out the scope of that review and the deadline for implementing changes and rule out a closure of the mortgage to shared equity scheme.
The Tories absolutely need to fix the mess that they have made, but it is not enough for the Government to just criticise from the sidelines. We need to use the powers that we have in Scotland to help families to keep their homes.
I move,
That the Parliament notes the increase in mortgage costs due to the sharp rise in interest rates following the UK Government’s disastrous mini-budget; believes that, combined with wider cost of living pressures, higher mortgage repayments will push some households into poverty and that action is needed to prevent a spike in arrears and homelessness; recognises that the Scottish Government’s Mortgage to Shared Equity scheme has not had a successful application since 2015-16, and calls for the Scottish Government to relaunch and revamp the scheme so that it is not limited to only those with existing high levels of equity, that eligibility thresholds reflect true house price values and that there is a maximum application turnaround time of two months.