SCOTTISH homebuyers are turning their backs on the rising numbers of so-called “risky” mortgages being offered, less then a decade after the housing market crash.

Shelter Scotland, the housing and homelessness charity, said it has concerns about a 23 per cent rise across the UK in mortgages where the value of the loan given is at least 4.5 times someone’s salary.

In Scotland, only two per cent of borrowers took out such deals between 2011 and 2015, suggesting a reluctance to stress their household finances too far, according to new figures.

But in south-east London, the number of such mortgages doubled between 2011 and 2015, from 1,286 to 2,631.

The new statistics show that many areas of Scotland saw falls in the number of risky mortgages taken out, with Falkirk (30 per cent) and Kirkcaldy (51 per cent) seeing some of the biggest drops.

Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said illness or losing a job could put people’s homes at risk, and that meant a very real threat of homelessness.

He said: “It’s less than a decade since the dangers of taking out high-risk mortgages and loans caused havoc with people’s lives with thousands of people losing their home through repossession,” he said.

“It is good news then that people in Scotland seem to have learned the lessons of that time and are less likely – according to these figures – to take on what can be a very onerous repayment schedule and which can prove unaffordable in the long-term.”

The new statistics have heightened concerns that lessons from the financial crash appear to be being forgotten in parts of the UK.

The figures were highlighted by peer-to-peer lending business Lendy, which said the south east had seen the most dramatic increase in high-risk mortgages, as buyers attempt to keep up with rising house prices.

The Bank of England rates any mortgage worth 4.5 times a person’s salary as “risky”, and warns people taking out such loans stand more chance of losing their homes, because they cannot maintain payments when their circumstances change.

There have been signals that some members of the Bank’s rate-setting committee are in favour of raising interest rates amid a sharp rise in inflation

Mr Brown added: “The only way they can move is up. I urge people to be very cautious in the level of mortgage they take on and not to stretch themselves beyond their means.”

Liam Brooke, co-founder of Lendy, believes Scotland’s homebuyers appeared to have recognised the dangers. “It’s almost stereotyping to say that the Scottish have a reputation for prudent finances, but these figures show that homebuyers north of the Border are significantly less likely to overstretch themselves when taking out a mortgage,” he said.

He claimed other aspects may also be preventing excessively rash lending north of the Border, such as the oil industry slowdown while banks may even be less willing to lend in Scotland and Northern Ireland.