17,000 homes were repossessed last year, the highest number for five years, with further rises predicted for the coming year by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

A rise in repossessions means that one group of people will be kept busy bailiffs so what can you do to stop the bailiffs coming to your house?

Much will depend how bad your situation has become, but even if you have been handed a court order, and proceedings for repossession of your home have been started, there are still ways that you can deal with the situation.

Falling behind on payments

Lenders will normally only start to take action if you miss payments for two months if you are having difficulties, the best thing to do is let your lender know and see if you can come to an arrangement with them.

If you fail to come to an arrangement with your mortgage lender, they are likely to send you a letter from their solicitor demanding payment, before issuing repossession proceeding with the county court.

Repossession proceedings

By attending the proceedings, you may be able to come to some arrangement with the court and your lender. However, if you do not attend, the court will have no alternative but to order repossession.

If you can make an offer to keep paying your monthly installments, plus something towards the arrears, the judge may be satisfied with this, and grant a Suspended Order For Possession.

Bailiffs

If you have made no acceptable offer for repayment, or defaulted on a Suspended Possession Order, then your lender has the right to seek repossession of your property.

In this situation, a court order will be granted, and a date will be set for a court bailiff to visit your property to formally take possession. You will normally be given just 10 minutes to pack your things and get out.

At any point in the process, before the bailiffs arrive, you still have a number of options to solve the problem. These are;

Negotiate repayment

If you can afford to pay make your normal monthly mortgage instalments and pay something towards the arrears, the lender may be able to agree to this.

Pay off all of the arrears

Your options here are to borrow money from friends or family, or from another lender. It is important to be careful here though if you can’t afford the payments on a new loan, you may have more lenders chasing you for money.

Remortgage

Some mortgage companies may be willing to remortgage if your house is worth more then your outstanding debts.

Sell your property

You could do this through an estate agent, which would probably get you the best price for your house, though there are downsides - it could take many months to find a buyer and complete a sale, and you may even need to spend money on your house to attract buyers.

Sell your property fast

A fast cash buyer like Molae Properties, which buys property in the London area, will typically offer you between 80% and 85% of the market value of your property, but they will give you a fast sale, completing the exchange of contracts in a very short time frame.

If you are facing a repossession order, this could be the answer. In addition you can sell and rent back your property, avoiding the hassle and stress of finding somewhere else to live.