House repossession cases in courts fall 40% in a year
The number of home repossession cases in Scotland's courts has fallen by more than 40% in the last year.
Last updated 28th Mar 2017
The number of home repossession cases in Scotland's courts has fallen by more than 40% in the last year.
New figures show there were 1,874 cases initiated in 2015/16, down from 43% in 2014/15 - and down 82% on 2008/09.
Legal affairs minister Annabelle Ewing attributed the drop to historically low interest rates and economic improvements.
Data on repossessions was included in civil justice statistics published by the Scottish Government.
Overall, there were 77,721 civil law cases in 2015/16, similar to the last three years but down 41% on 2008/09.
The number of evictions going through the courts rose by 7% on 2014/15 figures, but were down by 26% compared with 2008/09.
Debt cases - which accounted for almost half of all civil cases in 2015/16 - were up 3% on the previous year, but down 47% on 2008/09 figures.
The number of divorces - 8,875 - was the lowest number recorded in Scotland since 1979.
Ms Ewing said: "I am pleased there has been such a dramatic fall in the number of people seeing their homes being repossessed, which continues a longer term downward trend.
"This is thanks largely to historically low interest rates and is a positive indicator of Scotland's general economic picture.
"The overall number of civil cases, which includes debt, damages and personal injury, has fallen by over 40% in just seven years which is very encouraging.
"The past year has seen significant changes in the way our civil courts work, streamlining the system and helping people access civil justice more quickly and efficiently."
You can download the full report from the Scottish Government here http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2017/03/5807/downloads