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Worried about your home?

Choose what has happened so far.

For homeowners and renters in England and Wales.

Renting and had a notice from your landlord?

Shelter gives free help to renters. Your landlord usually needs a court order before you can be made to leave.

Get free help from Shelter →

What a notice from your landlord means

You do not have to work everything out today.

Start with the step that matters now. Free advisers deal with these problems every day, and they do not judge. You do not need to know the legal words.

Checked on . See our sources

I’m worried about my next payment

First step: ask your lender to change how you pay, and get free advice.

If you miss mortgage payments and cannot agree a plan, your lender might start court action. Before it can, it must consider a request from you to change the way you pay. It must respond to any offer of payment you make. If it turns your offer down, it must give you reasons within 10 days.

  • Ask for a free advice appointment today. An adviser can help you plan what to say to your lender.
  • Have to hand what you owe, what you earn and what you spend. If you are not sure, an adviser will help.
  • If debt is behind this, see your debt options. Breathing Space gives up to 60 days of protection from creditors while you get advice. You still pay your current mortgage or rent.

I’ve got court papers

First step: do not ignore them. Get free legal advice today.

The Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service gives free legal advice from the moment you get written notice that someone wants your home. Your finances do not affect your right to it, and you do not pay.

This applies if your mortgage lender or your landlord is taking you to court.

  1. Look for the hearing date. The court sends you the claim forms, a hearing date and the court’s contact details.
  2. Fill in the defence form. The court sends a blank form with guidance. You return it to the court within 14 days. This is your chance to say why you think you should not lose your home. The Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service can help you fill it in.
  3. Go to the hearing. If you do not go, the judge will likely give the lender the right to evict you. Arrive at least 30 minutes early to meet the free adviser, and bring proof of your finances, such as payslips and bank statements.
  4. Keep to any agreement. If the court agrees a plan to pay off arrears, you must keep to it, or you may still lose your home.

At the hearing the judge could:

  • delay the hearing (“adjourn” it),
  • set the case aside, so no order is made, or
  • make an order. An outright possession order usually gives you 28 days from the hearing. A suspended order lets you stay if you make the payments it sets out.

  • Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service

    Free legal advice if your lender or landlord has taken you to court to take your home, including help on the day of your hearing. It is legal aid, so you do not pay.

    Covers: England and Wales

  • Shelter

    Housing charity with a free helpline for people at risk of losing their home.

    Call free: 0808 800 4444 (number checked on their website on 24 October 2026)

    Covers: England

  • Find a court or tribunal (GOV.UK)

    Find the address and contact details of the court dealing with your case.

    Covers: England and Wales

I have an eviction date

First step: call a free housing adviser today. Do not wait.

An eviction date means a court has agreed that bailiffs can remove you after that date. A judge can sometimes pause it, but not always, and the hearing has to happen before your date. Filling in a form does not stop the eviction by itself.

Read what to do, step by step

Using form N244 to ask the court to pause a repossession

Fill in your N244, one question at a time (mortgage repossession in England and Wales)

  • Shelter

    Housing charity with a free helpline for people at risk of losing their home.

    Call free: 0808 800 4444 (number checked on their website on 24 October 2026)

    Covers: England

  • Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service

    Free legal advice if your lender or landlord has taken you to court to take your home, including help on the day of your hearing. It is legal aid, so you do not pay.

    Covers: England and Wales

  • Find a court or tribunal (GOV.UK)

    Find the address and contact details of the court dealing with your case.

    Covers: England and Wales

If you rent your home

A notice from your landlord is not the same as a court order. In most cases your landlord has to give you the right notice and then get an order from a court before you can be made to leave. If you get court papers, the steps above apply to you too, and the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service can help.

The rules for landlords in Wales are different from England. Shelter and Citizens Advice can tell you where you stand.

  • Shelter

    Housing charity with a free helpline for people at risk of losing their home.

    Call free: 0808 800 4444 (number checked on their website on 24 October 2026)

    Covers: England

  • Citizens Advice

    Free advice on debt, housing, benefits and more. By phone, online or in person.

    Call free: 0800 144 8848 (number checked on their website on 24 October 2026)

    Covers: England (this is the Adviceline number for England)

  • Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service

    Free legal advice if your lender or landlord has taken you to court to take your home, including help on the day of your hearing. It is legal aid, so you do not pay.

    Covers: England and Wales

Not sure which one fits?

Start with the choice that sounds nearest, and call a free adviser. They can tell you which stage you are at. If you have a letter from a court, have it with you. These guides cover England and Wales. In Scotland and Northern Ireland the law is different.

See all free help

Free, independent debt advice

These services are free. They will not judge you, and they can look at your whole situation.

  • StepChange

    Free debt advice charity. They can talk through all your options with you.

    Call free: 0800 138 1111 (number checked on their website on 24 October 2026)

    Covers: UK

  • National Debtline

    Free, confidential debt advice by phone and online.

    Call free: 0808 808 4000 (number checked on their website on 24 October 2026)

    Covers: England, Wales and Scotland

  • Citizens Advice

    Free advice on debt, housing, benefits and more. By phone, online or in person.

    Call free: 0800 144 8848 (number checked on their website on 24 October 2026)

    Covers: England (this is the Adviceline number for England)

  • MoneyHelper

    Free money guidance backed by government. It has a tool to find free debt advice near you.

    Covers: UK

Related guides

Sources

  1. GOV.UK: Home repossession, get advice (checked )
  2. GOV.UK: Home repossession, before your case goes to court (checked )
  3. GOV.UK: Home repossession, defence form (checked )
  4. GOV.UK: Home repossession, the hearing (checked )
  5. GOV.UK: Home repossession, repossession orders (checked )
  6. GOV.UK: Home repossession, delaying an eviction (checked )
  7. GOV.UK: Private renting, eviction notices (checked )
  8. GOV.UK: Legal aid for possession proceedings (Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service) (checked )
  9. GOV.UK: Options for dealing with your debts, Breathing Space (checked )