Legal Q&A: will we lose our home if we can't afford to keep up our monthly mortgage payments?

Question: We have spent too much on Christmas and we are now panicking about paying our mortgage in the next few months. My husband is due a large bonus around Easter and once we have that, our finances will be okay again. We have heard that it is sometimes possible not to pay your mortgage for a few months — is that correct? I am worried that our home will be repossessed if we cannot pay.

Answer: If you stop making your monthly payments and therefore get into arrears, your home will be at risk because your lender could take action against you to repossess it.

Contact your lender and inform them of any financial problems you have that might result in you being unable to meet your monthly mortgage repayments.

Lenders consider repossession a last resort and provided they are kept informed of issues, most will attempt to help the borrower by trying to reach some sort of arrangement with them over payment.

Payment holidays are possible but depend on the terms and conditions of your mortgage.

In general, payment holidays last for only a few months, after which time your monthly payments will increase to make up the shortfall caused by your missed instalments. Make sure you can afford the new increased figure.

It is possible that a new mortgage deal would be a better move for you — for example, an increased mortgage term from, say, 20 to 25 years may result in smaller payments each month. Consider all of your options very carefully.

You could consult an independent financial adviser.

These answers can only be a very brief commentary on the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, please email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk or write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, London Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE. We regret that questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here. Fiona McNulty is a solicitor specialising in residential property.