The Quick Answer
The Breathing Space scheme (formally the Debt Respite Scheme) gives you 60 days of legal protection from most creditor action. During those 60 days:
- Your mortgage lender cannot start new repossession proceedings
- Interest and charges on your mortgage arrears are frozen
- Other creditors cannot chase you or take enforcement action on qualifying debts
- You get time to work with a debt adviser and find a route forward
It doesn’t cancel your debt. It doesn’t make the problem go away. But it stops things escalating while you figure out what to do, and for many people in mortgage arrears, that time can make all the difference.
How It Works
Breathing Space was introduced in May 2021 under the Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Space Moratorium and Mental Health Crisis Moratorium) (England and Wales) Regulations 2020. It’s designed for people who are struggling with debt and need protected time to seek proper advice.
When a standard Breathing Space starts:
What stops: Creditors cannot contact you about debts included in the scheme. They cannot add interest, fees, or charges to those debts. They cannot take enforcement action, which for mortgages means no new possession proceedings can be initiated. They cannot enforce existing court orders.
What continues: Your debt doesn’t disappear. The protections are temporary. And critically, you must continue paying your ongoing mortgage payment if you can afford to. Missing new payments during the Breathing Space can lead to it being cancelled.
The timeline: From your first contact with a debt adviser to formal protection starting is typically 3–5 working days. The Breathing Space itself then runs for 60 days from the date it’s registered with the Insolvency Service.
How It Applies to Your Mortgage Specifically
This is where it matters to understand the detail.
What’s covered: Your mortgage arrears, the payments you’ve already missed up to the point you apply. These are frozen for the 60 days. Your lender cannot add further interest or charges to the arrears amount during this period.
What’s not covered: Your ongoing mortgage payments, the ones that fall due during the 60 days. You still need to pay these if you can. If you miss them and new arrears build up, those new arrears are not protected by the Breathing Space, and your lender may apply to have the scheme cancelled.
What it prevents: Your lender cannot start new possession proceedings during the 60 days. If proceedings have already been issued but haven’t reached enforcement, they’re paused. This doesn't reverse proceedings that have already happened. If an outright possession order is already in place, Breathing Space doesn't cancel it, though it may affect the timing of enforcement.
The practical effect for most homeowners is: you get 60 days where the situation cannot actively get worse through lender action. You can use that time to get proper advice, talk to your lender, explore your options, and make a decision about what to do.
Who Qualifies
To be eligible for standard Breathing Space, you must:
- Live in England or Wales (different schemes apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland)
- Have at least one qualifying debt that is unmanageable
- Not currently be in a Debt Relief Order, Individual Voluntary Arrangement, or undischarged bankruptcy
- Not have had a Breathing Space in the last 12 months (this is a strict rule)
- Include all your qualifying debts in the scheme. You cannot pick and choose which ones to include
If you’ve already used Breathing Space in the past year, you cannot apply for standard Breathing Space again until the 12-month period has passed. The Mental Health Crisis version (see below) has different rules.
What Debts Are Covered
Breathing Space covers most personal debts, including:
✅ Covered:
- Mortgage arrears (not the ongoing mortgage, arrears only)
- Council tax arrears
- Credit cards, personal loans, overdrafts
- Utility bill arrears (gas, electricity, water)
- HMRC debts (income tax, national insurance, VAT for sole traders)
- Benefit overpayments
- Rent arrears
❌ Not covered:
- Student loans
- Child maintenance arrears
- Debts from fraud
- Ongoing mortgage payments (only arrears existing at application date)
- New arrears that arise after the Breathing Space starts
For more detail on what qualifies and what doesn’t, the GOV.UK guidance for the Debt Respite Scheme is the authoritative source.
How to Access It
You cannot apply directly. This is one of the most common misconceptions about the scheme.
To get Breathing Space, you must go through an approved debt adviser. They assess your situation, make sure you meet the eligibility criteria, and register the moratorium electronically with the Insolvency Service on your behalf.
Approved providers include:
- StepChange, 0800 138 1111 (Mon–Fri 8am–8pm, Sat 8am–4pm)
- National Debtline, 0808 808 4000 (Mon–Fri 9am–8pm, Sat 9:30am–1pm)
- Citizens Advice, 0800 144 8848 (Mon–Fri 8am–7pm). There's a local Citizens Advice office serving the Wirral
- PayPlan, 0800 280 2816 (Mon–Fri 8am–8pm, Sat 9am–3pm)
- Other FCA-authorised debt advisers
The process is straightforward: you call one of these services, explain your situation, and they’ll assess whether Breathing Space is right for you. If it is, they register the application electronically. Approval typically takes 1–2 working days once the application is submitted.
All of these services are free and confidential. The debt adviser won’t judge you. They’ve heard every version of this situation many times.
What You Must Do During the 60 Days
Breathing Space is not a holiday from your finances. To keep the protections in place, you must:
Keep paying your ongoing mortgage. If you stop making current payments during the Breathing Space (as opposed to arrears that were already there), your lender can apply for the scheme to be cancelled. Pay what you can afford.
Engage with the debt advice process. Your debt adviser will carry out a review at the midpoint (around day 30) to check you’re making progress. You need to cooperate with them.
Don’t take on new credit. Taking on new debt during the Breathing Space is a condition breach that can lead to cancellation.
Use the time to make a plan. This is the whole point. The 60 days exists to give you space to think clearly, get proper advice, and identify the right path forward, whether that’s a repayment arrangement, a longer-term debt solution, or deciding to sell the property.
Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space
There’s a separate, longer form of protection for people currently receiving mental health crisis treatment.
The Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space lasts for the entire duration of treatment, plus 30 days, which can be significantly longer than the standard 60-day version. There is no 12-month restriction on reuse.
This version is applied for by an Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP), not by the individual themselves. If you’re currently receiving mental health crisis treatment and you’re struggling with debt, ask the professional caring for you whether they can make an application on your behalf.
What Happens When It Ends
When the 60 days expire, the protections end. Your creditors can resume contact, interest on arrears resumes accruing, and enforcement action can restart.
This doesn’t mean you’re back to square one. If you’ve used the time well, you should now have:
- A clearer picture of all your debts and your financial position
- A debt management plan, repayment arrangement, or another formal solution in place
- A decision made about the property, whether to keep it, sell it, or pursue another route
The Breathing Space is not a solution. It’s time to find a solution. The distinction matters.
Common outcomes after Breathing Space include:
Repayment arrangement with your lender: If you’ve engaged with your lender during the 60 days and agreed a plan to clear the arrears over time, this continues after the Breathing Space ends.
Debt Management Plan: A formal repayment plan for unsecured debts, arranged by your debt adviser.
Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA): A legally binding agreement to repay a proportion of what you owe over several years. Requires enough disposable income to make contributions.
Debt Relief Order (DRO): For people with low income, few assets, and relatively small debts. Effectively freezes and then writes off qualifying debts after 12 months.
Voluntary sale of the property: If the Breathing Space has given you the clarity to decide that selling the home is the right route (to clear the mortgage, deal with the arrears, and start again), then the 60 days was exactly what it was supposed to be: time to make a clear-headed decision.
Each of these options is a significant step, and all of them need proper professional advice. Your debt adviser can guide you toward the right one for your circumstances.
If Selling Turns Out to Be the Right Route
For some homeowners who use Breathing Space, the 60 days makes the decision clear: the mortgage isn’t sustainable, and a voluntary sale is the cleanest way forward. The debt is cleared, the arrears are resolved, and whatever equity remains is theirs to start again.
If you decide to sell during or after Breathing Space, the process works the same way as any other sale. See our guide to selling your house with mortgage arrears for how the proceeds are distributed and what to expect.
For those who want to understand what selling would mean for their credit score specifically, see our guide to how selling protects your credit score.
And for the full picture of everything that’s available before you decide anything, see our guide to mortgage arrears options.
If the 60 days point you towards selling, tell us about your property. We'll walk you through what a sale would look like, and there's nothing to decide until you're ready.