House Repossession Process

Your lender has the right to issue repossession proceedings if you do not make your required payments. Normally two months of arrears is sufficient for a lender to take action.

The lender will take possession action in your local County Court (mostly Central Birmingham county court). They do this so that they can take control of your property, sell it and recover the outstanding mortgage balance. Birmingham, unfortunately has one of the highest repossessions rates. Things do not finish by repossessing the house. They can come back to you even later (upto 12 years) if their arrears are not cleared.

The Repossession process and what you should do

1. Payment reminders: Initially the lender will get their Arrears Collection Department to write letters and then give some telephonic reminders.  It is important to keep your lender informed of your position and to try to come to an agreement to clear the arrears over a period of time.

2. Solicitor's letter: If the arrears are unpaid, your lender will refer your account to their solicitors. They will write to you demanding full payment and warn that repossession could take place if you do not bring your account up to date. Again, make contact with the solicitors and try to come to an arrangement to make ongoing payments to clear the arrears over time. Sometimes, a genuine explanation can make things better and buy you some time.

3. Start of repossession proceedings: If there are  six months or more of arrears, the solicitors will issue County Court Repossession proceedings. The court will set a hearing date. Make sure you attend as you don’t want to appear arrogant or irresponsible to the court. You should attend. See How to prepare for a court hearing for detailed guidance.

4. Court Order: at a possession hearing the court can make a number of decisions.

• Adjourn - you will be given a new date for your hearing (if for some reason the hearing cannot proceed due to absence or your case needs further information or clarification). Make sure you have some genuine reason to convince the court. Take legal advice as most home insurance policies give you free legal insurance as well with it and most of us are not aware of it.


• Dismiss or Adjourn indefinitely - usually only following full payment of the arrears.


• Order for Possession - this will give your lender right to possession after a fixed period, typically 28 days. It's still not too late to act; we can help you with a quick property sale. But it is ideal to plan things before this stage as these things put your family through a terrible stress and pain of being subject to all this. The self esteem gets shaken when one hears a possession order and it is best avoided for more than just financial reasons.


• Suspended Order for Possession - the Order is suspended upon payment of the current monthly installment, and an agreed amount towards the arrears. This order is very readily applied by the courts. It gives you a further chance, and also gives the lender security. If payment is defaulted upon, the lender has an immediate right to seek possession by Possession Warrant. If you have reached this stage already, we can intervene here as well and buy time for you if you are still undecided. We can

5. Possession Warrant or Notice of Eviction: if you have defaulted on a Suspended Order of Possession or are still in your property after your Order of Possession notice period has passed, the lender will apply to the court for formal eviction. You will receive a date and time from the court when you must leave. The court bailiff will arrive with a representative of the lender and a locksmith to take formal possession of the property. Again, even up to the day of your eviction, it's still not too late to act. It is more of a family pain than the botheration to go through this. Please do not let this stage ever come.

We can save your house, you may not have to sell it

You need to act quickly, so that our team of experts, at Save My Cave, can analyze your situation and suggest the most optimum solution to stop repossession of your house.
You can call FREE on 0800-43-22-999, to speak with our advisor. Or fill out 2 minutes Consultation Form to provide us information about your situation.