Dispossession for Arrears: The Weight of Home in English Law

Abstract

Dispossession for Arrears: the Weight of Home 1This chapter examines whether, and if so the extent to which, the processes of dispossessing a debtor of his or her home enable weight to be attached to the importance of this home to this person.2 The focus is upon what will be called the 'personal home story'.The law implicitly accepts that forced loss of any home is likely to be a more serious business than deprivation of other kinds of real estate.There are, for example, special rules applying to rented homes that require there to be a court order before repossession, but these rules do not apply to other forms of rented property.3 The general aim of these rules is to ensure that the occupier does not lose her home without good lawful reason, but they do not allow the 'meaning of home' to be a consideration in deciding whether or not possession should be allowed on the facts.Sometimes the law goes further where the reason given for dispossession of a home is non-payment of monies due and it gives the occupier an opportunity to show to a judge that, given a reasonable time to do so, she will be able to sort out the arrears.An obvious example is the special powers given to judges to postpone possession if a mortgagee is seeking a court order to take possession of a dwelling house.4 In this way the law does give special protection to most home dwellers, albeit some more than others.5 Whilst there is, then, a general weighting that is given to homes in the law, the question addressed in this chapter is whether the law ever allows more than this by making the personal home story legally relevant.Whilst losing a home will seldom be easy, the impact of loss will be much greater for some than others.A young person who has only recently rented a room in a shared house is unlikely to suffer serious harm , especially if she has friends or family nearby who she can move in with.But for others, perhaps a low income single parent with dependent children and mental health problems, the story could be quite different.For some, a forced move will be devastating: there are financial, emotional, social and practical consequences.It may mean dislocation from communities of family, friends, school, work, and other social groupings; it can lead to homelessness or overcrowding; it may exacerbate existing health problems, or generate new ones, and it can lead to a profound sense of 'loss' and insecurity.The reach will often be far wider.It is not only the debtor herself who stands to lose the home, but other occupiers may also be made homeless.The point is that loss of home impacts very differently upon different people depending upon their financial resources, expectations, health, family and social situation, and general resilience.Is this something that has any relevance in law? Arrears and Dispossession

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