What if I Can't Contribute to my Mortgage Payments?

If you are not able to contribute to your mortgage to help pay off your arrears at all, you will need to increase your income. Here are some ideas to help you:

• See if you can reduce your total monthly outgoings.
• Find out if you are entitled to any benefits you are not receiving.
• Take on a tenant or a lodger
• Sell your existing house and move to a smaller and/or cheaper one. You would need your lender's agreement to do this, but if they think it will help them get their money back they will probably agree. Although this will help pay off some debt, some of the capital released will go in estate agent fees, legal fees and stamp duty. This option will only work if the property is worth much more that the mortgage, - if you're in a negative equity situation, or house value and outstanding mortgage are roughly equal, downsizing won't help. You also need to take into consideration that rented accommodation will only cost less per month than the mortgage payments if the rented place is a lot smaller or in a cheaper area than the present property.