Bankruptcy Proceedings

saynotodebt

Hi folks

I need some urgent help. I have a debt for £10k for non-domestic tax arrears (business rates). Now I came to an arrangement with the Council to pay this debt at £100 p/m after they threth'nd me with the bailiffs. The arrangement was for an initial 6 months back in May 2005, 2 months ago I suddenly get a letter asking for the outstanding balance to be paid in full or bankruptcy petition will be made. I sent the council a letter saying I was happy to continue with the £100 arrangement and continued to pay this until today I recieved another letter stating that I should either pay the full amount or contact them to make a firm and substantial offer of payment within 10 days or they will pass the case onto the council's legal department to commence bankruptcy proceedings. Should I voluntarily declare myself bankrupt or wait for them to issue me with a court summons for proceedings. I mean how long will it take to make myself bankrupt. I have other debt aswell totaling £20k and realisticaly I wont be able to pay it off. I feel bad as it is, as bankruptcy was a last last resort, however I just want to clear myself of this stress. How easy is it to go bankrupt? Please help...Im counting the 10 days down....thanks in advance.

Bakeybadoo

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Ok, you've taken the first step in getting straight.

Now if you want to make yourself BR, you can obviously include the other debt you mentioned so if you want free of that other debt then you'd be better off, in my opinion, filing yourself.

First off, you need to seek free, independent advice, any judge will want to know you sought this so you may as well kill two birds with one stone.

https://www.cccs.co.uk
https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk
Your local Citizens Advice Bureau

Any of those provide free debt help and can advise you.

Going BR is relatively easy. You seek advice, can fill the forms out online (https://www.insolvency.gov.uk) and make an appointment at your local court that deals with insolvency (bankruptcy) to file for BR. How quick you get an appt depends on a) the way your court operates - some have an open/just turn up system and b) how busy the courts are if they operate an appointment system. If you are in a hurry, you may want to book the appt asap and then work on your forms. That's what we did.

You have to pay the fee of £485, unless you are exempt , if you are on Child Tax AND Working Tax Credit, disability benefits etc, from the court fee part but even if you are, everyone still has to pay £325 regardless. Then you go along, you give your papers in, swear on oath and then depending on the court in question, see a judge who declares you BR after a minute or so, or the paperwork is taken the judge on your behalf and you go back to the court an hour/hour half later and it's all signed for you.

Again, depending on the court, you either speak to the Official Receiver via telephone at the court, straight after the BR has been granted or you go to see them after or they will write/call you to arrange a further telephone/personal interview. They are the ones who go over your finances with a fine toothed comb and look at whether you would have an IPA (payment agreement) put in place. This is where you pay a % of your surplus income (after your essentials are paid for every month) to the order, which they distribute amongst your creditors. This lasts for 3 years. You need a surplus of at least £100 to get an IPA.

Well, that's the end of my novel, I hope I helped a little. If you want any specific questions answered, fire away, there is always someone here to help you and if they don't know, they can direct you to where someone else will.

saynotodebt

Bakeybadoo wrote: »

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Ok, you've taken the first step in getting straight.

Now if you want to make yourself BR, you can obviously include the other debt you mentioned so if you want free of that other debt then you'd be better off, in my opinion, filing yourself.

First off, you need to seek free, independent advice, any judge will want to know you sought this so you may as well kill two birds with one stone.

https://www.cccs.co.uk
https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk
Your local Citizens Advice Bureau

Any of those provide free debt help and can advise you.

Going BR is relatively easy. You seek advice, can fill the forms out online (https://www.insolvency.gov.uk) and make an appointment at your local court that deals with insolvency (bankruptcy) to file for BR. How quick you get an appt depends on a) the way your court operates - some have an open/just turn up system and b) how busy the courts are if they operate an appointment system. If you are in a hurry, you may want to book the appt asap and then work on your forms. That's what we did.

You have to pay the fee of £485, unless you are exempt , if you are on Child Tax AND Working Tax Credit, disability benefits etc, from the court fee part but even if you are, everyone still has to pay £325 regardless. Then you go along, you give your papers in, swear on oath and then depending on the court in question, see a judge who declares you BR after a minute or so, or the paperwork is taken the judge on your behalf and you go back to the court an hour/hour half later and it's all signed for you.

Again, depending on the court, you either speak to the Official Receiver via telephone at the court, straight after the BR has been granted or you go to see them after or they will write/call you to arrange a further telephone/personal interview. They are the ones who go over your finances with a fine toothed comb and look at whether you would have an IPA (payment agreement) put in place. This is where you pay a % of your surplus income (after your essentials are paid for every month) to the order, which they distribute amongst your creditors. This lasts for 3 years. You need a surplus of at least £100 to get an IPA.

Well, that's the end of my novel, I hope I helped a little. If you want any specific questions answered, fire away, there is always someone here to help you and if they don't know, they can direct you to where someone else will.

Thank you. Excellent advice. Appreciate it.

I do have a few questions:-

- I am currently employed, will my employers find out about this?
- I sold a house in 2005 which I made no profit on as I used the equity to pay off family and friends who had lent me money, will this be questioned by the OR?
- Also, can the OR challenge my personal living expenditure, e.g. if I say i pay £800 rent to my parents to live in their house can he challenge this as unrealistic?

Thanks guys and gals.

wherediditallgo

I think you need to give this a lot more thought. Please don't misunderstand me - as a recent BR myself, I have every sympathy for those considering it & will do my best to help anyone in that position. However, help doesn't always mean agreeing with what someone's saying or doing. I can't help but feel that you're rushing into BR, & I don't think we've been given the complete picture here - apologies if I'm wrong, but some info seems to be missing.

If you've had an arrangement to pay £100pm since May 2005 & haven't missed any payments, you've paid close on £2400. You would have had that agreement or at least acknowledgement of it in writing. I can't see why the council would suddenly withdraw the agreement unless something happened with these or other payments, or some other event happened, that you've not revealed here. If they did it just like that, I'd have thought that you'd have definite grounds for appeal, through the council's own complaints procedure as well as possibly through the courts. I don't understand why you don't seem to have considered those options before going for BR. No-one here's going to judge you for whatever you've done in the past, but it would be helpful for us to have the full facts. Your post didn't read completely right to me, & if I think that, the OR might too. Please think very carefully before going down the BR route. If you are thinking about hiding something from the OR, you could end up with a BRO (Bankruptcy Restriction Order) that could affect you for the next 15 years. :eek:

Your employers may find out about you going BR. They won't find out just because your tax code may change, but other investigations by the OR may eventually make them realise what's happened. That could be an unfortunate consequence if you lie & make them have to do further digging to reveal the truth. However, they have to respect your right to confidentiality by law, so they wouldn't/shouldn't be discussing it with anyone except you even if they do find out about it. If you're doing a job where your contract of employment says you should reveal bankruptcy, then you must do so.

The selling of the house could well be challenged. You owed business rates & came to an arrangement to pay them in 2005. Any OR worth their salt is likely to ask why you chose to pay off family & friends from a house sale the same year instead of sorting out the business rates debt, especially as that payment arrangement was initially only for 6 months. While they might not be able to force the people you repaid to hand over the money (if they haven't got it, the OR can't make them go into debt to get it either), it's not going to look very good for you.

As for the OR challenging your personal expenditure, they most definitely can & would query such a high rent. If you said you paid that amount of money to parents, don't be surprised if they tell you they want you to prove that or even to move somewhere cheaper - I think most people would do exactly that if their parents wanted so much from them each month. You might wonder if the OR would "challenge this as unrealistic" - I'd be more blunt & say he'd suspect it was a downright lie. The very fact you've asked the question the way you have makes me wonder if you'd be giving that figure to try to up your expenses, & if that's the case I strongly suggest that you don't. How would you prove it? The OR is known to ask for bank statements going back a year, but they can go back several years before that if they wish. Will your statements back up such a high rent payment? Remember, you've got a business rate debt making up half of your debts - they'll know you've run a business, & will wonder if this alleged rent commitment is an avoidance tactic of some kind.

And would your parents be prepared to back up the rent amount, under oath if required? Mine might back me on certain things, but I know even without asking that they wouldn't even think of supporting me on something like that if it was a lie unless my life literally depended on it. They're allowed to get a certain amount each year tax free, but I think £10k+ a year for rent from one child would be pushing the allowances a bit, & if your parents are anything like mine, they won't thank you for putting them in the position of questions being asked about their finances. Also, it pretty immediately occurred to me that if your parents would be prepared to take over £10k in rent from you a year, why haven't you arranged with them that you pay only 25%-50% of that (a much more realistic option) for say 1-2 years & put the rest towards your debts? If I'm asking that question & I've got no axe to grind with you, I assume the OR who's trying to get the best amount he can for the creditors, would ask it too. If you lie, be prepared to pay dearly for it - it's a lie that's really not worth telling.

Going bankrupt might be easy on paper - you fill in some forms, hand over some money & appear in court. Depending on where you live, you could get seen in court the same day you file your petition. Forums like this one make it a less painful process than it used to be, & I've certainly appreciated all the help I've been given. But there's nothing easy about the effect of being BR, apart from the fact that you might sleep easier at night. Being BR affects your life for years, & if you're found to be deliberately giving false info to the OR along the lines that seem to be hinted at here, you could end up in deep trouble. ORs don't play games. If they catch you out on one thing, you're likely to put yourself in the position where they go over everything you've said with a fine tooth comb, & make you wait while the info is checked.

Again, my sincere apologies if I've read your post incorrectly, but that's the way it came across to me. Also, sorry for the long post (if Bakey's is a novel, mine's a library ), but I wanted to make you as aware of possible problems as I could. Please post details of your income & expenditure here when you're ready, & we'll try to help you where we can, but like I said help doesn't always mean agreeing with what someone's saying or doing.

saynotodebt

wherediditallgo wrote: »

I think you need to give this a lot more thought. Please don't misunderstand me - as a recent BR myself, I have every sympathy for those considering it & will do my best to help anyone in that position. However, help doesn't always mean agreeing with what someone's saying or doing. I can't help but feel that you're rushing into BR, & I don't think we've been given the complete picture here - apologies if I'm wrong, but some info seems to be missing.

If you've had an arrangement to pay £100pm since May 2005 & haven't missed any payments, you've paid close on £2400. You would have had that agreement or at least acknowledgement of it in writing. I can't see why the council would suddenly withdraw the agreement unless something happened with these or other payments, or some other event happened, that you've not revealed here. If they did it just like that, I'd have thought that you'd have definite grounds for appeal, through the council's own complaints procedure as well as possibly through the courts. I don't understand why you don't seem to have considered those options before going for BR. No-one here's going to judge you for whatever you've done in the past, but it would be helpful for us to have the full facts. Your post didn't read completely right to me, & if I think that, the OR might too. Please think very carefully before going down the BR route. If you are thinking about hiding something from the OR, you could end up with a BRO (Bankruptcy Restriction Order) that could affect you for the next 15 years. :eek:

Your employers may find out about you going BR. They won't find out just because your tax code may change, but other investigations by the OR may eventually make them realise what's happened. That could be an unfortunate consequence if you lie & make them have to do further digging to reveal the truth. However, they have to respect your right to confidentiality by law, so they wouldn't/shouldn't be discussing it with anyone except you even if they do find out about it. If you're doing a job where your contract of employment says you should reveal bankruptcy, then you must do so.

The selling of the house could well be challenged. You owed business rates & came to an arrangement to pay them in 2005. Any OR worth their salt is likely to ask why you chose to pay off family & friends from a house sale the same year instead of sorting out the business rates debt, especially as that payment arrangement was initially only for 6 months. While they might not be able to force the people you repaid to hand over the money (if they haven't got it, the OR can't make them go into debt to get it either), it's not going to look very good for you.

As for the OR challenging your personal expenditure, they most definitely can & would query such a high rent. If you said you paid that amount of money to parents, don't be surprised if they tell you they want you to prove that or even to move somewhere cheaper - I think most people would do exactly that if their parents wanted so much from them each month. You might wonder if the OR would "challenge this as unrealistic" - I'd be more blunt & say he'd suspect it was a downright lie. The very fact you've asked the question the way you have makes me wonder if you'd be giving that figure to try to up your expenses, & if that's the case I strongly suggest that you don't. How would you prove it? The OR is known to ask for bank statements going back a year, but they can go back several years before that if they wish. Will your statements back up such a high rent payment? Remember, you've got a business rate debt making up half of your debts - they'll know you've run a business, & will wonder if this alleged rent commitment is an avoidance tactic of some kind.

And would your parents be prepared to back up the rent amount, under oath if required? Mine might back me on certain things, but I know even without asking that they wouldn't even think of supporting me on something like that if it was a lie unless my life literally depended on it. They're allowed to get a certain amount each year tax free, but I think £10k+ a year for rent from one child would be pushing the allowances a bit, & if your parents are anything like mine, they won't thank you for putting them in the position of questions being asked about their finances. Also, it pretty immediately occurred to me that if your parents would be prepared to take over £10k in rent from you a year, why haven't you arranged with them that you pay only 25%-50% of that (a much more realistic option) for say 1-2 years & put the rest towards your debts? If I'm asking that question & I've got no axe to grind with you, I assume the OR who's trying to get the best amount he can for the creditors, would ask it too. If you lie, be prepared to pay dearly for it - it's a lie that's really not worth telling.

Going bankrupt might be easy on paper - you fill in some forms, hand over some money & appear in court. Depending on where you live, you could get seen in court the same day you file your petition. Forums like this one make it a less painful process than it used to be, & I've certainly appreciated all the help I've been given. But there's nothing easy about the effect of being BR, apart from the fact that you might sleep easier at night. Being BR affects your life for years, & if you're found to be deliberately giving false info to the OR along the lines that seem to be hinted at here, you could end up in deep trouble. ORs don't play games. If they catch you out on one thing, you're likely to put yourself in the position where they go over everything you've said with a fine tooth comb, & make you wait while the info is checked.

Again, my sincere apologies if I've read your post incorrectly, but that's the way it came across to me. Also, sorry for the long post (if Bakey's is a novel, mine's a library ), but I wanted to make you as aware of possible problems as I could. Please post details of your income & expenditure here when you're ready, & we'll try to help you where we can, but like I said help doesn't always mean agreeing with what someone's saying or doing.

Thanks for the info.

The agreement for the £100 was for an initial 6 months while they gave me the opportunity to raise the funds to pay all or a considerable amount of the debt. However, they did not get back to me after the 6 months and I was unable to raise the funds to pay them off so I continued to pay the £100 as this arrangement was better for me. Then out of the blue at the start of this year they write me a letter demanding the full payment. With regards to the rent - I have bank account statments showing I pay rent to my parents every month for £800 (last three years). I class it as rent but its really the mortgage on my parents house as they earn a far less income to pay the mortgage on their house. Is there anyone on this forum that can give me a link to the forms I will need to complete? Also, if I fill these in can someone take a look at these for me, please? I am crapping myself as I only have 10 days to comply with the council before they file a petition. I sold the house I had because I could not afford to live in it - I should have paid the council off first but I owed money to family and friends - if I did not pay them back they may have got caught up in the debt trap like I have. Thanks for your comments so far.

wherediditallgo

You can find all the forms here - you'll need forms 6.27 (Debtors Bankruptcy Petition) and 6.28 (the Guidance Notes as well as the Statement of Affairs). We couldn't look at the forms themselves for you, but we can look at your figures & see if you've missed something out or put down things you shouldn't have, & help you with any bits you don't understand. You can ask your local CAB or a debt advice service if they'd be prepared to look at the actual forms for you.

I can't see that the OR is going to accept you've been paying the mortgage at that level for your parents without querying it. They may want to investigate whether you have any financial interest in it/the property, which may have other implications further down the line. Also, the issue of whether your friends may have ended up with debt problems if you hadn't paid them back won't matter to the OR - it's worry & guilt that made you think that might happen, but there's no guarantee that would have actually been the result, since they may have been able to raise funds elsewhere. I understand why you paid them back & I admire you being honourable enough to do it, but from the OR's point of view you had a pot of money which you chose to give to friends & family instead of pay your debts with. I also can't see that the council would be amused to find out you sold a property & they didn't get a share of the proceeds, something that's very likely to come out if you go for BR.

The OR is also not going to be overly bothered about your parents not earning enough to cover their mortgage, because they'll wonder what they've done to resolve that for themselves. It's harsh but true - they're your parents & you want to help them, but it's their mortgage, not yours. I think the OR would understand you paying towards it, but that's a very large amount to pay for a property that you have no financial interest in, so they'll want more info about that. Ultimately, they're not out to force you to wear sackcloth & ashes, but they're there to get the best deal they can for the creditors. I don't think there's any way they'll accept you putting down that figure just as it stands, so you will need specialist advice because the OR might refuse to allow you to keep paying that amount on it. I suggest you make a list of all the housing/debt advice places in your area over the weekend, then start phoning round to make appointments. Some may be open today, but you might have to wait until Monday.

It may be that going BR is the best option for you in the end. I know how bad things feel at the moment - I've been there, & it is very stressful, especially when you're given a deadline like that. But please don't file for BR without taking professional advice, as you may find that you end up with more problems afterwards. Bear in mind that, while some courts allow you to file your petition on the day, many don't & some have considerable waiting lists, so you may not get a court date within the 10 days anyway. You can find out the details of the relevant court for you here , but you won't be able to find out whether you have to book an appointment until Monday. Maybe the alternative of a payment plan could work for you - it's worth considering.

saynotodebt

wherediditallgo wrote: »

You can find all the forms here - you'll need forms 6.27 (Debtors Bankruptcy Petition) and 6.28 (the Guidance Notes as well as the Statement of Affairs). We couldn't look at the forms themselves for you, but we can look at your figures & see if you've missed something out or put down things you shouldn't have, & help you with any bits you don't understand. You can ask your local CAB or a debt advice service if they'd be prepared to look at the actual forms for you.

I can't see that the OR is going to accept you've been paying the mortgage at that level for your parents without querying it. They may want to investigate whether you have any financial interest in it/the property, which may have other implications further down the line. Also, the issue of whether your friends may have ended up with debt problems if you hadn't paid them back won't matter to the OR - it's worry & guilt that made you think that might happen, but there's no guarantee that would have actually been the result, since they may have been able to raise funds elsewhere. I understand why you paid them back & I admire you being honourable enough to do it, but from the OR's point of view you had a pot of money which you chose to give to friends & family instead of pay your debts with. I also can't see that the council would be amused to find out you sold a property & they didn't get a share of the proceeds, something that's very likely to come out if you go for BR.

The OR is also not going to be overly bothered about your parents not earning enough to cover their mortgage, because they'll wonder what they've done to resolve that for themselves. It's harsh but true - they're your parents & you want to help them, but it's their mortgage, not yours. I think the OR would understand you paying towards it, but that's a very large amount to pay for a property that you have no financial interest in, so they'll want more info about that. Ultimately, they're not out to force you to wear sackcloth & ashes, but they're there to get the best deal they can for the creditors. I don't think there's any way they'll accept you putting down that figure just as it stands, so you will need specialist advice because the OR might refuse to allow you to keep paying that amount on it. I suggest you make a list of all the housing/debt advice places in your area over the weekend, then start phoning round to make appointments. Some may be open today, but you might have to wait until Monday.

It may be that going BR is the best option for you in the end. I know how bad things feel at the moment - I've been there, & it is very stressful, especially when you're given a deadline like that. But please don't file for BR without taking professional advice, as you may find that you end up with more problems afterwards. Bear in mind that, while some courts allow you to file your petition on the day, many don't & some have considerable waiting lists, so you may not get a court date within the 10 days anyway. You can find out the details of the relevant court for you here , but you won't be able to find out whether you have to book an appointment until Monday. Maybe the alternative of a payment plan could work for you - it's worth considering.

The council have put in the letter to contact them to make a firm and substantial offer - would this be an offer for the outstanding balance or the monthly payment? Also, I have paid them £100 per month, never missed a payment - ok it was only ment to be for 6 months but they never got back to me to say the arrangement had stopped and you need to pay us - they just continued to cash the cheque every month, if this goes to court could the debt be written off? Is this in the public interest to make me bankrupt, I mean they are getting £1300 off me every year - why make me bankrupt and get £0? I don't get it.

Bakeybadoo

Since when have the council bothered what's in the publics interest and what isn't? That's not to sound sarky, I'm being honest, just because you've done the maths and it makes sense, doesn't mean they council think like that or won't see it worthwhile taking this further.

If they make you BR, there is every chance they'll get something out of you. As I said, it depends on how much surplus you have every month and even if you don't have any, they can put a tax deduction on your wages (basically you pay no tax to the IR, this is put in your wage packet instead and the OR has that paid to them, who then pays your creditors).

The debt will not be written off, I can pretty much say that with certainty. It's just not done. It's public money. If the council took you to court, you'd maybe end up paying less than £100 month if you could prove you couldnt afford that much but then again, you could end up getting told you have to pay more. That's going on a hearing alone, not them petitioning for BR.

Why not contact the council and find out exactly what they will and won't accept. You never know, upping your payment offer might be enough to stop this right now.

And lastly, I hope I didn't make BR sound like an easy prospect in my first reply, that wasn't my aim at all, I was just giving the basics. As WDIAG says, it's a very serious step and you should consider all options first.

wherediditallgo

saynotodebt wrote: »

The council have put in the letter to contact them to make a firm and substantial offer - would this be an offer for the outstanding balance or the monthly payment?

It could be either. I think you would need to ask them to clarify that. It's public money at the end of the day, so they're unlikely to offer a discount for quick settlement when things have gone this far.

saynotodebt wrote: »

Also, I have paid them £100 per month, never missed a payment - ok it was only ment to be for 6 months but they never got back to me to say the arrangement had stopped and you need to pay us - they just continued to cash the cheque every month, if this goes to court could the debt be written off?

It's not for the council to tell you the arrangement is over, it's for you to ascertain whether it's still in place (if necessary, by making an appointment to see someone at the council) & then getting something in writing as confirmation of the amount & how long the agreement is for. Unfortunately, decisions are made in one place, but payments go to another. While having paid the money for so long is going to work in your favour, it won't automatically mean the council won't win their case. Councils have their own teams of legal advisors & contracted bailiffs, & if they thought they might end up getting nothing, they'd let you continue paying as you have been. They clearly want the money sooner than the current payments would allow, for reasons best known to themselves (could someone have told them you sold the property?).

saynotodebt wrote: »

Is this in the public interest to make me bankrupt, I mean they are getting £1300 off me every year - why make me bankrupt and get £0? I don't get it.

Making you BR may not mean they get nothing - that's a common misconception. Many people have heard of people going BR, but far fewer have heard of payment orders that tie the BR to the debt for years afterwards. When you go BR, your debt slate isn't wiped clean on the day. You have the hearing where you may see a judge, & after that you may meet one of the OR's staff to briefly go through your SOA (there's a glossary at the top of this forum for any terminology that's new to you ). The court won't usually stop you going BR unless there are very specific circumstances for that & you'll usually get your BR order the same day, but they can attach terms to it. For instance, once the OR has done their investigations, they'll let you know whether you have to make payments to contribute towards the cost of your BR. The forms on the Insolvency link I gave you ask a lot of questions about your financial affairs, & the OR may want to interview you at a later date, either by phone or in person to clarify points about the information you've given.

If they decide to imposed a payment order, that could be in place for 3 years. If they're not happy with the BR itself, they could extend it to 15 years instead of the current 12 months. Obviously, that's comparatively rare, but the option is available to them, which is why you must get professional advice appropriate to your circumstances before you submit the BR forms. When you go to court, the OR will ask if you've taken professional advice, & if you haven't they've won't be impressed as they'll think you're not taking things quite as seriously as you should & might not realise the impact of what you're doing.

When councils take action against someone, it's not always about the amount of money recovered - sometimes it's also about showing the public they mean business. And the options open to the OR regarding payment orders means the council may get a fair bit back after all, & from their point of view (not ours, I hasten to add) teach others not to mess with them at the same time.

saynotodebt

They were aware I owned a property and may well now no I sold it. Can I challenge the petition or is that it once they file I will be declared bankrupt? Also, If I do it voluantarily will this make any difference? Once the OR is satisfied with their investigation, what happens? I mean can the Council come back and say hold on he had a property - where's the proceeds? etc. Thanks all.

Bakeybadoo

From https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk

Before presenting a bankruptcy petition a creditor must send you a 'statutory demand'. A statutory demand is a pre-court form that requires you to either:

pay the demanded amount;

offer to secure the debt against any property you own (create a voluntary charge);

offer to pay the debt in a way that is satisfactory to the creditors e.g. by instalments.

AND:

Twenty-one days after a statutory demand is served, the creditor can apply for a bankruptcy order through the county court. However, you can apply to have the statutory demand 'set aside' in certain circumstances - for example if your debt is below £750 or there is a dispute about the money owed.

If you do it voluntarily, it won't make a huge amount of difference apart from the way people might view it. A creditor making you BR is viewed as worse than you doing it yourself. Sadly.

Also, do it yourself, you have to pay the fees, which unless you are exempt are £485.

The council will not do any investigations into your financial affairs after BR, that's the OR's job and I can say that they WILL look into this property being sold business.