| Statistics released at Holyrood show that between April 2005 and June 2008 a total of 3069 people in the region were granted a mortgage despite having an “impaired” credit rating.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) defines a sub-prime mortgage as one targeted at those with impaired or low credit ratings who may find it difficult to obtain finance from traditional sources.
The over-reliance on sub-prime mortgages has been widely blamed for the global credit crisis.
The figures show 526 people in Dundee who took out a mortgage between the two dates had an impaired credit rating.
This means at least 3.1% of all mortgages issued in the city — 17,002 — during the period were sub-prime.
Statistics for those with a low credit rating are not available — meaning the actual number of sub-prime mortgages is likely to be much higher.
In Angus, 377 sub-prime mortgages were recorded during the period — 3.1% of the total of 12,215.
In Perth & Kinross 2.8% of 15,039 mortgages were issued to people with an impaired credit history — a total of 423.
In Fife 1743 sub-prime mortgages were issued — 3.8% of the total of 45,894.
For Scotland as a whole, the FSA found that 21,130 mortgages were in cases where the main, second or other borrower had an impaired credit history.
That represents 3.4% of the total number of mortgages (630,334) issued in Scotland over this period.
The numbers were revealed by Communities and Sport Minister Stewart Maxwell following a question from West of Scotland MSP Stuart McMillan.
Mr Maxwell said, “The Scottish Government would discourage borrowers from taking on unsustainable mortgage commitments and to seek help from their lender if they are having trouble repaying their mortgage.”
The news comes a day after a Tayside property expert revealed a 30% year-on-year drop in house sales in the surest sign yet that the global credit crunch has hit the local property market.
As expected, the Tayside Solicitors Property Centre said it is now selling fewer properties than this time last year, largely due to the difficulty buyers experience getting a mortgage.
However, TSPC manager Helen Wylie stressed it was not all doom and gloom, with the average prices obtained by the properties not suffering a massive drop. |
