Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

I am grateful to have the opportunity to resolve this matter. The noble Baroness is absolutely right about the role of the judiciary in this. A judge would determine that an order should be made absolute. Very few, if any, examples occur of a judge deciding that a home will be sold. We have charging orders to enable us to recognise different circumstances. Not all debtors are the poorest of people. Different debtors have different assets. An order for sale will not be permitted under regulations in the Bill if the instalment arrangements are kept up to date. That must be somewhere in the policy statement. If it is not, I shall make sure that it is added. But that is what we propose to do. The charging order secures the judgment, not the debt. We are not seeking to allow people who have unsecured debts and who have made their own charging arrangements to bring in another arrangement through the back door. There is no conflict with the Consumer Credit Act. Under the charging orders the court will have the power to grant a timed order, although it does not have to. The amendment seeks to prevent a charging order that restricts the court’s discretion, which we do not want to do. If the noble Lord is not satisfied with my response, I shall set out the matter in writing. I hope he now feels that his fears on this matter are groundless.