Social landlords are evicting twice as many people as are being repossessed for mortgage default.

That’s the alarming finding from Shelter Scotland, the leading housing and homelessness charity, in its last published report of 2008, ‘Evictions by social landlords in Scotland’.

The report shows that for every thousand social housing tenants, 13.1 had a decree for eviction granted against them – but the report shows that the rate for homeowners with a decree against them was only 6.8 per thousand.

The report shows that almost 3,600 tenants of social landlords (council and housing association) were evicted last year, almost all of them for rent arrears – that’s almost ten a day.

Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter Scotland, said: "Repossession of home owners has been a justifiable concern and one that politicians north and south of the border have been right to focus on. We have campaigned for better protection for homeowners because each repossession is an individual and social tragedy.

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"This report makes sobering reading. It shows that eviction rates in the social sector, primarily for rent arrears, which should be recovered without resorting to such Dickensian measures, are alarmingly high. Being forced to leave your home should only be used as a last resort whether you are the tenant of a social landlord, or the owner of a property."

He added: "The plight of all families threatened with homelessness must be at the forefront of politicians’ minds this Christmas, into 2009 and beyond, if Scotland’s 2012 homelessness target is to mean anything."

The report shows that councils took 13,382 tenants to court last year, eventually evicting 2,089 of them. Meanwhile, housing associations took 6,657 tenants to court, evicting 1,484 of them.

The charity has highlighted three areas for action: The Scottish Government must tell its housing regulator to root out all avoidable evictions. A protection package introduced comparable to that developed for homeowners. This requires public and political recognition that evictions are just as damaging as repossession. Social landlords need to develop alternative ways of dealing with debt and breach of tenancy grounds that avoid making a family homeless.

In addition, Shelter Scotland has produced a new six-step guide to help people with rent arrears or facing eviction. Graeme Brown said: "No-one with financial problems should bury their head in the sand. Visit www.shelter.org.uk for advice on how to deal with problems."

(GK/JM)