I was recently made redundant and my wife and I cannot repay our debts. If my wife and I declare ourselves bankrupt and our house is repossessed will the local authority say that because we have declared ourselves bankrupt (as opposed to being made bankrupt by a creditor) that we are 'intentionally homeless' and that they have no duty to house us? We have three children all in full time education at school.
Hi Russ, declaring yourself bankrupt doesn't neccessarily mean that you would have the house repossessed. Bankruptcy is a means to deal with your unsecured lending that you have now become unable pay.
Viki's question about equity is relevant as if there is no equity(i.e in negative equity) then the OR(Official Receiver) as trustee would have no interest in it and would not force a sale through repossession. The only way it would be repossessed is if you were unable to pay the mortgage, and fell into arrears, which by the sounds of it may or has already happened due to your redundancy, which really couldn't be seen as intentionally making yourself homeless as you were made redundant.
The other scenario is that the property has sufficient equity that would interest the trustee and eventually force a sale to realise the equity through repossession on bankruptcy, however as you have children of school age that process could take up to 12 months.
But as regards housing, the housing expert on this forum should be able to give a more definitive answer, as to what would be construed as intentionally making yourself homeless.
I was recently made redundant
Posted - 09 December 2010 : 13:37:59
