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If the house within which you live is rented, and providing the rent is set at an appropriate rate for the property and the area, it is unlikely that the Trustee will take any steps in relation to your home. The Law acknowledges that you need somewhere to live, that you retain tools of the trade, including motor vehicles, where appropriate, and obviously that the home has to be furnished and you need clothes to wear. You will not however be allowed an extravagant life style.If your home is owned by you in your sole name, or by you and your wife/partner jointly, whether subject to a mortgage or not, the Trustee will have to consider what amount of money he can raise with your share of the equity in the property. For example, if your house is worth £150,000, and it is owned jointly between yourself and your wife/partner, and it is subject to a mortgage of, say, £100,000, then your equity in the property is £25,000, which is the maximum amount that the Trustee can expect to receive from the sale of the property. Obviously, the expenses of the sale such as Solicitors and Estate Agents fees, will have to be paid out of that £25,000, and it may not be worth the Trustee forcing the sale if you can find a relative, or somebody to pay a sum of money not necessarily the whole £25,000, to the Trustee on your behalf to buy out your share of the equity. They should be able to negotiate a discount because the Trustee will not have fees to pay and the inconvenience of sale. All of this pre-supposes that the mortgage continues to be paid. If not, then it doesn’t matter what the Trustee does, the mortgage lender may well decide to realise their security and sell the house in any event.
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