Voluntary surrender of house

happyhelston

Dear all,
This forum has been a constant through my mortgage / debt woes so hopefully once again it will give some great advice.
We had a buyer on our home, cash buyers, looking for quick sale and at the time of their offer we were already in arrears but with enough to come out after sale at zero. Stupidly we moved out as we knew that to find a property would have to be privately and all our children moved out at same time.

They took 8 months of dangling us along only to change their phone number and disappear !
We are now in a negative situation with our home, we have had lots of viewings (at least 2 a week) but the house is not selling and each month we are further into negative and the house is still costing us Council Tax, daily energy charges etc etc.
We have been in touch all the way with Landmark and whilst they tell us each month they could repossess at any time they have chosen not to but we are in the position as much as it pains me is that I feel the house is not going to sell however long we wait.
We are considering voluntarily surrendering the property and understand this will mean we are responsible for the shortfall which will no doubt occur but can anyone advise on the other effects.
I was declared bankrupt in 2015 (business debt) and since then have been keeping up with my other commitments so the house really is the final and biggest thing that needs sorting.
Any help would be appreciated

silvercar

The way to sell quickly is by lowering the price.

If you really can't face the hassle any longer, then ask your lender if they will do an assisted sale, whereby they take over the selling process with your co-operation.

If you want a voluntary repossession, then expect the lender to reduce the price to achieve a sale soonest. They have a duty to get the best price they can, but clearly you have been trying for months without success, so expect the final price to be lower.

Two main effects of a VR:
a) may need to be declared in the future on mortgage applications.
b) you will owe their costs for repossessing - admin costs and legal fees etc

CIS

Assuming England/Wales

Bear in mind that a repossession does not remove the council tax liability - as long as the land registry shows you as the legal owner and/or the property is unoccupied you will remain liable for the council tax charge (even if you don't have physical access to the property). You may be able to claim a Class L exemption however.

happyhelston

Afternoon
Thank you for taking the time to reply - we indeed lowered the price and still havent managed to sell sadly
It breaks my heart, its a fabulous family home but just not selling but we gave it our best efforts
Many thanks again

ViolaLass

So lower it further.

happyhelston

I guess it depends how low you can go !
It is already marketed at an amount that will put us in negative equity which is why i took the time to ask forum for help
Thanks tho

ViolaLass

Voluntary repossession will have the same effect though.

sleepymans

I hope you have some luck in selling. Before surrendering the home voluntarily please do bear in mind that will still have housing and council tax costs and if you bet that into the equation then staying put as long as you can whilst trying to sell maybe isn't the most costly arrangement.
I hope some folks with more experience come along and help you further

csgohan4

Every house will sell for a price

Thrugelmir

sleepymans wrote: »

I hope you have some luck in selling. Before surrendering the home voluntarily please do bear in mind that will still have housing and council tax costs and if you bet that into the equation then staying put as long as you can whilst trying to sell maybe isn't the most costly arrangement.
I hope some folks with more experience come along and help you further

If you are prepared for the consequences then discuss a voluntary repossession with Landmark. At least it will bring matters to a head. Enabling you to move forward. Lifting the cloud that's hanging over you.

poppy10_2

happyhelston wrote: »

It is already marketed at an amount that will put us in negative equity which is why i took the time to ask forum for help

Voluntary repossession will have the same effect. Once you hand it over to the lender, they will want rid of it quickly so will sell/auction it off for whatever they can get. Any shortfall would still be due