The 0.5 per cent interest rate rise last week has caused serious concerns for homebuyers and worry and fear in the housing market. What was most striking is that many people not only feared being unable to pay their mortgages but worried that their houses would be repossessed, and this view was echoed by some commentators and politicians.

The truth is that repossession is always the action of last resort by lenders. They will always try to do all they can to work with the borrower to prevent a repossession taking place. A sign of this is the tiny number of repossessions which occur compared to the market as a whole.

The latest figures from 2021-22 show that there were just 1,158 repossessions in Scotland out of a total of 1.54 million privately owned homes. It is clear, therefore, that your chances of losing your home in this way are extremely remote and unlikely and the cases that have occurred will be because of serious arrears of months or even years and with a homeowner who does not engage with the lender to resolve the issue.

Worried about mortgage rate rises? Talk to your lender