The hearing will take place in private and therefore information concerning your financial situation will be kept confidential. The hearing is likely to last no more than 5 minutes.
You will not be evicted from your home on the day of the hearing. The purpose of the hearing is to decide on an arrangement, which is fair to both sides. The hearing will have one of three outcomes.

Adjournment

The Court could adjourn the hearing for another day for many reasons. For example, if you are not working, but have a job interview pending, the Court may postpone the hearing for another day because your circumstances may change. The Court could also postpone the case if it needs more information from your lender. You must remember that an adjournment only postpones the case and you will have to return to Court at a later date.

Suspended possession order

The Court is likely to suspend the order if you can show that you can repay your current mortgage and the arrears over a "reasonable period of time". You must have the means to meet the current monthly instalment in order to have a suspended order granted.

As a result of cases that have been heard by the Court of Appeal, the Court should now treat the remaining term of the mortgage as a reasonable period of time. For example, if you owe your lender £2,000 and there are 200 months left to run on the mortgage, divide the amount owing by the number of months remaining and you will have to pay £10 per month to clear the arrears. This would be a lot less than your lender would expect. If you can meet the mortgage payments, but the Judge seems reluctant to grant a suspended order, refer the Judge to the case of Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society-v- Norgan in which the Court of Appeal decided what a reasonable period of time is.

Outright possession order

If it is clear to the Judge that you cannot meet the mortgage payments and repay the arrears over a reasonable period of time, the Judge will give the lender an outright possession order. The Judge will normally order you to leave the property in 28 days, but the Judge could award up to 56 days in certain circumstances.

Bailiff's warrant

If the possession order expires and you have not given the property back to the lender, the lender can ask the Court bailiff to evict you from the property. The bailiff will normally give you notice of when s/he is likely to carry out the eviction.

It is important to bear in mind that at any stage before the bailiff's warrant is executed, you can apply to the Court to have the eviction or possession order suspended. You will need a good reason for doing so, but the Court can suspend the warrant and/or the possession order if you can show the arrears can be repaid over a reasonable period of time.

Many people faced with the losing their home decide to sell the property when it is clear they will not be allowed to remain in it. If you had received a possession order and a bailiff was due to evict you, but you received an offer to buy your home, the Court could suspend the warrant to allow the sale to proceed. You will need to show evidence to the Court that your home was worth more than the loan and that you had written confirmation of an offer on the property. The Court would not normally suspend a warrant because you felt that you could receive an offer of sale in the foreseeable future.