It is important to bear in mind that banks and building societies look upon repossession as an absolutely last resort, for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is not at all good for their image if they throw hard-working people and their families onto the streets because they have gone through bad times through illness, family problems, unfortunate business decisions etc. The second reason is a purely selfish one; a repossession can prove very expensive for the lender. People who are 
about to be turned out of their own home are often, understandably, upset and resentful so when they are finally evicted the house is often left in a poor state.
The usual routine after the eviction is for a local builder to call round, and shut off the water, gas and electricity supplies. The windows are then boarded up, and the locks changed. Not only does all this cost money but the house then begins to deteriorate, since the absence of any heating and ventilation can lead to dampness and subsequent damage to woodwork, plaster work and decorations, whilst such an obviously empty property can attract vandalism, vermin and even squatters.
Together with an overgrown garden the house presents a very unattractive proposition for potential purchasers, which means that not only can it take a long time to sell the house but also the price that it will eventually fetch will be substantially reduced whilst the interest charges on the mortgage secured against it and legal costs continue to rise and rise. Estate agents are in any case often reluctant to push repossessed properties at the expense of occupied homes, since not only are they harder to sell but very often the banks or building societies which now own them pay a far lower sales commission than a private homeowner will.
The result of all this is that a perfectly good house which was worth substantially more than the mortgage outstanding on it could fall in value to a level which was lower than that mortgage plus the accumulated interest and legal charges, leading to a substantial loss to not only the lender but also the unfortunate previous owner and his or her family, whose financial situation may have been made a lot worse by a forced move to inferior accommodation which was perhaps further away from work and schools.
Many people, perhaps the majority, who are facing the real prospect of losing their homes become resigned to it and believe, mistakenly, that the whole process is inevitable and that there is nothing they can do about it. In most cases they are wrong, and there are steps that they can take to ensure that they and their families stay in their home, or at least recover as much of its value as possible.
