A forced house sale is when a property has to be sold against the wishes of one or more of its owners. It’s a stressful situation to go through but can happen for a number of reasons, usually linked to other difficult life events. The main ones are:
You’re getting divorced or separating from your partner and can’t agree on what to do with your home so a court orders it to be sold
You’ve fallen behind with your mortgage payments and the lender has to sell your home to get its money back
You owe money to creditors who have obtained a charging order on your home. This means they can apply for a court to order to sell the house so they can get their money back
You’re dealing with the property of someone who has died and it needs to be sold. This could be to pay off debts or distribute the assets to the beneficiaries
A public body, such as a council, buys your home through a compulsory purchase order to deliver a development project
Thinking of selling?
Get the ball rolling with an in-person valuation of your home. It’s free and there’s no obligation to sell if you change your mind.
Who pays the legal fees in a forced house sale?
On top of the stress, inconvenience and wider financial implications of a forced house sale, there are legal fees to pay, such as for court costs, legal representation and conveyancing. There may also be valuation and estate agent fees. Who is responsible for paying them depends on why the forced sale is happening.
Getting divorced or separated
In a divorce or where you and your partner own the property jointly, you either agree to share the costs as part of a wider financial settlement or, if you can’t agree, a court orders who has to pay what.
The situation is different if you’re not married to your partner and only one of you owns the property, as the sole owner doesn’t need their partner’s consent to sell it.
Defaulting on your mortgage
As the homeowner, you have to pay for your legal fees and any incurred by the lender, which are added to your debt. If the property is sold for more than the mortgage you owe, this will reduce the remaining proceeds you end up with. Bear in mind that if you’re in negative equity and the sale price doesn’t cover what you owe, you’ll have to pay the difference.
If your mortgage is on an interest-only basis, your lender could force a sale because you can’t pay off the capital (the original amount you borrowed) at the end of the term. This could happen even if you had paid the interest payments each month. The proceeds of the sale, minus the legal fees, would go towards paying off the capital only.
Owing money to creditors
When your house is sold to pay back creditors, you – the debtor – are responsible for paying the legal fees. As with a mortgage default, this will reduce any remaining money from the sale you get.
This would also be the case if you were going through bankruptcy proceedings. The legal fees would be taken out of the money raised when your assets are sold to pay your creditors.
Dealing with the property of someone who has died
If a property has to be sold as part of a probate or estate administration process, the legal fees are taken out of the value of the estate of the deceased person. Their estate is made up of everything they owned, including property, money and other possessions.
Probate, if the person who died made a will, or estate administration, if they didn’t, involves dealing with the estate and sharing out any remaining assets to the beneficiaries. The legal fees for the house sale will be one of a number of costs that reduces the estate’s value before it’s distributed.
Find out more about what probate is and how it works.
Selling because of a compulsory purchase order
The public body buying your home though the compulsory purchase order (CPO) pays the legal costs involved.
Under a CPO, you are entitled to receive the market value for your home as well as compensation for any related expenses. This includes legal fees as well as other costs of moving home, such as removals.
Read our guide for more information on compulsory purchase orders.
How much is a court order to force the sale of a house?
The court fees to apply for an order to force a property sale could be a few hundred pounds. This is likely to be just a small part of the overall legal fees, which could run into thousands once you take into account conveyancing and other solicitor costs.
If you want to apply for a court order to sell a house – known as an ‘order for sale’ – you should appoint a solicitor to do it on your behalf as it can be a complex process. They can help you navigate it and keep costs to a minimum.
How to minimise the legal fees in a forced house sale
To keep the costs of the forced sale of a property as low as possible and reduce their impact, you should:
Get legal advice from a solicitor as early as you can
Find out exactly what the costs will be so you’re not taken by surprise and can plan for them
Negotiate with the other parties or go through mediation to try to reduce the costs