New research has highlighted that only half of households facing repossession orders actually attend their court hearings.

There is also an indication that repossessions are not being considered the option of last resort by the courts.

The research, undertaken by the Chartered Institute of Housing's (CIH) consultancy arm – ConsultCIH – looked at hundreds of repossession orders made in 2008. The research found that many households are in denial about losing their homes. Conversely, others believe the loss of their home is a foregone conclusion by the time their case gets to court.

In addition, the research indicates that the letter of the pre-action protocol is being followed more than the spirit, and that judges are not being sufficiently proactive in seeking clarity and depth in the actions undertaken by lenders.

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The research supports the decision by Government to extend debt advice services to help avoid repossession.

ConsultCIH's research identified some significant problems in the way that many households respond in general to falling behind with their mortgage payments and responding to repossession orders. The research confirmed that advice services have a high success rate in defending repossession cases.

Richard Medley, Director of ConsultCIH, said: "Many people faced with repossession have never used advice services before, nor been faced with attending court. Therefore, it’s not surprising that what might appear to be basic steps to avoid losing the family home - such as seeking advice, filling in defence forms and attending court hearings - are proving to be a significant barrier for some to keep their own homes.

"In general housing advice services need to become more widely available to help people make the right decision for them in the first place – not just when things go wrong. We also need to start planning now for when the housing market picks up and interest rates start to rise. This is when homeownership will again become unaffordable for many marginal homeowners and it is presumptuous to assume that the need for good housing advice is only a temporary measure."

(CD/BMcc)