How to stop repossession of your home

Repossession can often be stopped or delayed, even after court papers arrive. In England and Wales a lender needs a court order before it can repossess your home, and both the lender and the court must look at other options first. The sooner you act, the more choices you have.

This guide sets out the steps that help most, in order, and what you can do at each stage. It's general information for England and Wales. The rules are different in Scotland.

Get free help today

Free, independent advisers deal with repossession every day. They can talk to your lender, help with court forms and set up a Breathing Space:

• Shelter: 0808 800 4444 in England, or Shelter Cymru on 08000 495 495 in Wales.
• Citizens Advice: 0800 144 8848 in England, 0800 702 2020 in Wales.
• StepChange: 0800 138 1111.
• National Debtline: 0808 808 4000.
• MoneyHelper: 0800 138 7777, including a tool to find free debt advice near you.

If you have a hearing or eviction date, say so straight away when you call. Contact your council's housing team early too: the court's pre-action protocol says lenders must advise borrowers to do this.

Where are you in the process?

Stage	What it means	What you can do
Missed payments	Your lender writes to you about the arrears	Contact your lender, get advice, offer what you can afford
Letters before court	Your lender must follow the pre-action protocol	Make a written offer, ask for time to sell, claim any help you're due
Court papers arrive	The lender has applied for a possession order	Return the defence form (N11M), ideally within 14 days
The hearing	Usually within 8 weeks of the court sending the papers	Go, ask for the duty adviser, bring evidence
Possession order	An outright order normally takes effect 28 days after the hearing	Get advice, and ask the court to suspend it if you can now pay
Eviction notice	Bailiffs must give at least 14 days' notice	Apply to suspend the warrant with form N244

Step 1: Talk to your lender

Ring or write to your lender as soon as you can, even if you've been avoiding its letters. Lenders must follow the Financial Conduct Authority's rules on arrears (MCOB 13). They must deal with you fairly, tell you about free debt advice, try to agree a realistic way to repay, and consider options such as a longer term, a different type of mortgage, or deferring or reducing interest. They must not repossess unless all other reasonable attempts to sort things out have failed.

Most lenders have also signed the government's Mortgage Charter. The FCA says its 47 signatories cover about 90% of the mortgage market, and they've agreed not to force you out of your home without your consent within a year of your first missed payment, except in exceptional circumstances.

Step 2: Make an offer you can afford

Write down everything coming in and going out, or ask a debt adviser to help. Put your mortgage first, ahead of debts like credit cards. Then offer your normal monthly payment plus an amount towards the arrears.

Shelter's rule of thumb is to divide the arrears by the months left on your mortgage. £3,000 of arrears with 120 months left is £25 a month on top of your normal payment. Don't promise more than you can keep up: a plan that breaks down puts you back where you started.

Put your offer in writing. Under the pre-action protocol, if your lender turns down your proposal it should give you its reasons in writing within 10 business days. Keep paying what you can in the meantime.

Step 3: Look for extra help with payments

• Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI): a government loan towards your mortgage interest if you get Universal Credit, Pension Credit or income-related Employment and Support Allowance. On Universal Credit you normally need to have claimed for 3 months in a row first. It doesn't cover arrears, and it's repaid when you sell.
• Mortgage payment protection insurance: if you have a policy, claim as soon as you can.
• A benefits check: a debt adviser can check what you're entitled to.
• A lodger: extra income, but check with your lender first.

Tell your lender about any claim or advice appointment. The pre-action protocol lists situations where a lender must not consider starting court action, including where you've claimed SMI, Universal Credit or mortgage payment protection insurance and provided all the evidence needed, or need time to get free debt advice.

Step 4: Ask a debt adviser about Breathing Space

Breathing Space (the Debt Respite Scheme) gives you up to 60 days while you get debt advice. Your lender must hold off enforcement action over the arrears you had when it started, and freeze interest and charges on them. You still need to keep up your normal monthly payments if you can, or the adviser may cancel it.

Only a debt adviser (including some councils) can set one up. You can usually have a standard Breathing Space once every 12 months. A separate mental health crisis Breathing Space lasts as long as your crisis treatment, plus 30 days. Both apply in England and Wales.

Selling as one option

If, after advice, keeping the home isn't affordable, selling it yourself before repossession usually leaves you better off than a lender's sale. The pre-action protocol says your lender must consider postponing court action if you're marketing the home at an appropriate price, and a court can give you time to sell.

An estate agent sale usually gets the highest price, which leaves the most to clear the debt. A quick sale to a cash buyer (including us) is below market value, and the FCA warns that some quick-sale buyers offer up to 35% below market value. A quick sale can still make sense when time has run out or the home won't sell on the open market. Our guide to selling a house with mortgage arrears compares the routes.

If your lender goes to court

Before starting a claim, your lender must follow the Pre-Action Protocol for Possession Claims based on Mortgage Arrears. It must give you details of the arrears and your payments over the last 2 years, discuss your situation, and hold off or consider postponing in situations such as a pending benefit or insurance claim, time needed for debt advice, an active sale, or a genuine complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The protocol says court action should be a last resort.

If the lender goes ahead, you'll get court papers, including a defence form (N11M). Citizens Advice says to return it within 14 days, or as soon as you can if you've missed that. Use it to explain your income, spending, what's happened, and the offer you can afford. Even if you don't return it, still go to the hearing.

Legal aid may be available if you could lose your home, so ask an adviser.

What happens at the hearing

Go to the hearing. Shelter says if you don't, the judge usually decides against you. Arrive about 30 minutes early and ask the usher for the duty adviser, who can look at your case and speak for you. Shelter says you can get this help whatever your income. Bring copies of your defence form, a list of income and spending, proof of income, and any evidence of a sale or a new job.

The hearing is short, often 10 to 15 minutes, and usually held in private. The judge checks that your lender followed the pre-action protocol.

What can the judge decide?

Under section 36 of the Administration of Justice Act 1970, if you're likely to be able to pay what's due within a reasonable period, the court can adjourn the case, suspend the order, or postpone the date you'd have to leave. The usual starting point for a "reasonable period" is the time left on your mortgage.

Decision	What it means
Adjournment	The case is put off, for example to give you time for advice or to show a payment plan works
Suspended possession order	You stay as long as you pay your monthly amount plus the arrears instalment the court sets
Suspended order to allow a sale	Time to sell, usually only if the sale will clear the mortgage debt
Outright possession order	You must leave by a set date, normally 28 days after the hearing, though the court can allow longer for good reason

If you keep to a suspended order, you keep your home. If you miss payments, the lender can apply for a warrant to evict you.

If you've been given an eviction date

Your lender needs a warrant of possession from the court before bailiffs can evict you, and bailiffs must give you at least 14 days' notice. You can still apply to the court on form N244 to suspend the warrant, if you can now pay your monthly mortgage plus something towards the arrears, or need time to finish a sale. Apply as early as possible, tell your lender and the bailiffs you've applied, and ask about help with court fees if money is tight.

If anyone in your home is disabled or seriously ill, tell your lender before the eviction date.

What happens if your home is repossessed?

If repossession does go ahead, it isn't the end of your options, and it helps to know what comes next:

• The lender sells the home. FCA rules say it must market the home as soon as possible and try to get a fair price, taking into account the market and your growing debt. Citizens Advice notes that a lender may sell quickly, for example at auction, which can mean a lower price.
• You're still responsible for the mortgage until the sale, plus the lender's costs of selling.
• If there's money left over, the lender must tell you in writing and pay it to you, after any other loans secured on the home.
• If there's a shortfall, you still owe it. If the lender wants to recover it, FCA rules say it must tell you within 6 years of the sale. Our guide to selling a house with mortgage arrears explains how shortfalls work.
• Housing help. If you have nowhere to live, your council may have a duty to help you, so contact its housing team as early as possible.

Keep records of any valuations, offers and letters. If you think the lender sold for far less than the home was worth, get advice: National Debtline can explain how to challenge it.

If your interest-only mortgage has ended

If your mortgage term has finished and you still owe money, FCA rules say the same thing applies: the lender must not take repossession action unless all other reasonable attempts to resolve things have failed. Ask about extending the term or switching to repayment, and get advice early.

What not to do

• Don't ignore letters or miss the hearing. That's when outright orders are most likely.
• Don't hand back the keys. The lender would still sell the home, and you'd still owe any shortfall.
• Don't pay anyone who promises to stop repossession for a fee. The FCA warns that struggling borrowers are targeted by firms and criminals, that "promissory notes" don't repay a mortgage and that "freeman on the land" claims aren't legally valid.
• Don't borrow from unauthorised lenders to clear arrears. Check any lender is authorised by the FCA.