What will happen to my home in bankruptcy?

Introduction

Information about your home when bankruptcy occurs

This section covers the questions you are most likely to want answered about your home if you are made bankrupt:

• Will I lose my home?
• When will the Official Receiver or trustee sell my home?
• Can anything be done to stop the Official Receiver or trustee selling my home?
• What is meant by my ‘beneficial interest’ in my home?
• What happens to my beneficial interest and legal title to my home when I am made bankrupt?
• What should be done if someone wants to buy my beneficial interest?
• Can I buy the beneficial interest if I am sole owner of the property?
• What happens if no-one buys the beneficial interest?
• What happens if I rent my home?

Will I lose my home?

The Official Receiver or the trustee (if an insolvency practitioner has been appointed in place of the Official Receiver) may have to sell your home to go towards paying your bankruptcy debts. This applies whether the home is freehold or leasehold and whether it is solely or jointly owned.

Please note that if your home is mortgaged and you do not keep up your payments, your lender may be able to sell your home. You should consider contacting your lender about your bankruptcy and your mortgage payments.

back to top

When will the Official Receiver or trustee sell my home?

If your husband, wife or children are living with you, it may be possible for the sale to be put off until the end of the first year of your bankruptcy. This gives them time to make other housing arrangements. They should contact the Official Receiver or trustee dealing with your bankruptcy.

back to top

Can anything be done to stop the Official Receiver or trustee selling my home?

Your husband, wife, partner, a relative or friend may be able to buy your beneficial interest in the home. This will stop the Official Receiver or trustee selling your home later.

back to top

What is meant by my ‘beneficial interest’ in my home?

This is your interest in the proceeds of sale of the property as opposed to the legal title to the property which is held by the owner. If you are the sole owner, the beneficial interest is the whole value of the property. If there are joint owners, the beneficial interest is usually an equal share of the value. (If there are any amounts owed on mortgages or other loans secured on the home, these will be repaid from any proceeds of the sale.)

back to top

What happens to my beneficial interest and legal title to my home when I am made bankrupt?

Your beneficial interest always transfers to the Official Receiver or trustee. If your home is solely owned, the legal title usually also transfers to the Official Receiver or trustee. If the home is jointly owned, the legal title remains with you and the co-owner but this does not prevent the Official Receiver or trustee taking action in relation to the property.

The Official Receiver or trustee has to realise (or sell) the beneficial interest to raise money to pay your creditors. One way of doing this is to sell the beneficial interest to your husband, wife, partner, a relative or a friend.

back to top

What should be done if someone wants to buy my beneficial interest?

If an insolvency practitioner is handling your bankruptcy, your husband, wife, partner, relative or friend should contact the insolvency practitioner for information on what to do.

If the Official Receiver is handling your bankruptcy, your husband, wife, partner, relative or friend should contact the Official Receiver. If the home is jointly owned, they may be able to take part in a low-cost conveyancing scheme run by The Insolvency Service and a firm of solicitors. Under this scheme, the beneficial interest and the legal title can be transferred to your husband, wife, partner, relative or friend. Please note that they will have to pay:

• for a solicitor or licensed conveyancer to act for them in the transaction;
• £211 (as at February 1999) to cover the Official Receiver’s legal costs. This amount must be paid in advance. It includes an allowance for expenses which may be incurred in the transaction. If the allowance is not fully used, they will receive a refund;
• the cost of an independent valuation unless you already have a very recent independent valuation of the property;
• the agreed purchase price for the beneficial interest based on the valuation. If your home is now worth less than the amount you still owe on it, the price of the beneficial interest will be set at £1
  

The purchaser will also have to give the Official Receiver up-to-date details in writing of the amounts which would be needed to fully pay off the mortgage and any other charges on the property.

If your husband, wife, partner, relative or friend cannot afford the costs of the scheme at present, they may still be able to take part at a later date. They should contact the Official Receiver about this.

If at a later date an approach is made to the Official Receiver to purchase the beneficial interest, and the property has increased in value, it is likely that the purchase price will be more than £1.

If the home is mortgaged, the lender may have to agree to the sale - the solicitor or licensed conveyancer dealing with the transaction will be able to advise on this.

back to top

Can I buy the beneficial interest if I am sole owner of the property?

It is possible for the Official Receiver or other trustee to transfer the beneficial interest and legal title to you, your husband, wife, partner, a relative or friend but the transaction is more complicated. If you wish to proceed in this way, please contact the Official Receiver or trustee for further details.

Please note that in this type of transaction, costs like those listed overleaf must also be paid (but there is no low-cost conveyancing scheme).

back to top

What happens if no-one buys the beneficial interest?

It remains with the Official Receiver or trustee. It does not return to you on your discharge from bankruptcy. The value of the beneficial interest may increase over time if the market value of your home increases.

The benefit of any increase in value will go the Official Receiver or trustee to pay your debts, even if the home is sold some time after you have been discharged. You and your family will have to move out if the home has to be sold to pay your creditors.

back to top

What happens if I rent my home?

If you fail to keep to the terms of your tenancy agreement, such as not paying your rent, the landlord may take action against you. The Official Receiver or trustee will normally have no interest in your home to sell for the benefit of creditors. In most cases the Official Receiver or trustee will need to tell your landlord that you are bankrupt. We suggest that you seek legal advice on what may happen under your tenancy.

What is bankruptcy? | Bankruptcy explained | The bankruptcy process | The effects of bankruptcy | The disadvantages of bankruptcy | How do I petition for my own bankruptcy? | What happens after bankruptcy? | What are the alternatives to bankruptcy?| Can my bankruptcy be reversed? | Can my bankruptcy be cancelled? | New legislation - the Enterprise Act 2002? | Frequently asked questions | Bankruptcy additional facts | UK Personal Bankuptcy | Bankruptcy Records | Bankruptcy Advice | What happens when you visit the Official Receiver's Office? | What happens to my home in bankruptcy? | What happens to my pension in bankruptcy? | When will my bankruptcy end? | How am I made Bankrupt? | Where is the Bankruptcy Order made? | Who will deal with my bankruptcy? | Who do I need to tell if I go bankrupt? | What are your duties as a bankrupt? | What effect will Bankruptcy have on your credit rating? | Payment to your creditors in Bankruptcy | What happens to your assets in bankruptcy? | What is a bankruptcy restriction notice? | What is a form J restriction? | What happens in bankruptcy if I rent my house? | What happens to your life assurance policy in bankruptcy? | What happens to your business in bankruptcy? | What happens to your wages in bankruptcy? | What are bankruptcy restrictions orders and undertaking? | Debts you have incurred after you have been made Bankrupt | What are the advantages of going Bankrupt? | What are the disadvantages of going Bankrupt? | What are the implications of  Bankruptcy? | Jersey - a guide to Bankruptcy Law | Bankruptcy Law | Student Loans and Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy Forms | Avoid Bankruptcy | Business Bankruptcy | Accountant in Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy Lawyers | Bankruptcy Search | Bankruptcy in the UK | Declaring Bankruptcy | Filing for Bankruptcy | How to go Bankrupt | Insolvency Practitioners | Voluntary Bankruptcy | How do I avoid Bankruptcy? | Consequences of Bankruptcy | Borrowing after Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy and Student Loans | Annulling the Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy - The Court | Bankruptcy Bank Accounts | Debt Resolution Forum | Mortgage after Bankruptcy | Personal Bankuptcy | Bankruptcy Mispellings