Over recent years a variety of mortgage lenders have launched special deals for people living in council houses who are interested in buying their homes and getting onto the property ladder.

However, since the onset of the global credit crunch the availability of these mortgages has become far more restricted, and lenders who offer the mortgages have become far more stringent with regards to their lending regulations, resulting in an increased number of council tenants wishing to buy their homes being turned down for finance.

However, according to a recent report Scotland could be on the brink of bringing about a change, with Dundee bringing in an innovative if slightly controversial new scheme that could allow many council tenants to get a 100 percent mortgage to purchase their home.

The city council is hoping that the scheme will enable more council tenant to get on to the property ladder and buy their council properties, and at the same time will boost the economy.

However, the scheme has been met with mixed reactions.

Some officials and groups are concerned that the council will be taking on the high risk that many lenders and banks have refused to take on by offering these 100 percent mortgages, in many cases to those that have already bee turned down by banks and financial institutions. The TaxPayers’ Alliance said that the idea was “well-intentioned” but “completely wrong-headed”.

One member of the Alliance stated: “The extra danger of this is that we’re talking about councils potentially deliberately taking on even more risk that the bankers are willing to do. We should be learning the lessons of lending money to people who can’t afford to pay it back – that’s what got us into this crisis and I think it’s extremely risky.”

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