- Standard Breathing Space
- up to 60 days
- Mental health crisis version
- treatment + 30 days
- Who applies
- a debt advisernot the person themselves
- How often
- once in 12 monthsfor the standard version
What enforcement agents cannot do during it
GOV.UK’s guidance to creditors says that during a Breathing Space a creditor or any agent acting for them must not:
- visit the person’s home or business to take their goods,
- take or sell any of the person’s goods,
- give notice about collecting or enforcing the debt,
- obtain a warrant or writ, or seek a liability order, or
- contact the person to ask for payment.
Interest, fees and charges on the debts included are frozen for the same period.
One exception
Goods that an agent had already removed and stored before the Breathing Space began can still be sold. Storage fees for the period of the Breathing Space cannot be charged.
Which bailiff debts are covered
Can be included
- Council tax arrears, once a reminder notice has been served or the year’s instalments have fallen due.
- Parking and traffic penalty charge notices.
- County court and High Court judgments for ordinary debts.
- Tax and benefit debts owed to government.
- Utility arrears, credit cards, loans and overdrafts.
Cannot be included
- Fines imposed by a court for an offence, so magistrates’ court fines stay enforceable.
- Child maintenance.
- Student loans.
- Universal Credit advance payments and social fund loans.
- Debts that only relate to a business, where the business is VAT registered or run as a partnership.
How someone gets one
Only a debt adviser can start a Breathing Space. That means a debt advice provider authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, or a local authority that provides debt advice. GOV.UK points people to MoneyHelper’s debt adviser locator.
The free debt advice services listed below can start one where it fits.
A person cannot have one if they already have a Debt Relief Order, an Individual Voluntary Arrangement or an interim order, or are an undischarged bankrupt, or if they have had a standard Breathing Space in the last 12 months.
What the person still has to do
Breathing Space is not a payment holiday. Ongoing bills such as rent, the mortgage, current council tax and utilities still have to be paid. The debt adviser carries out a review between day 25 and day 35 and can cancel the Breathing Space if those obligations are not being met.
Rather talk it through with someone? Request a call
The mental health crisis version
Someone receiving mental health crisis treatment can have a Breathing Space that lasts for as long as the treatment continues, plus 30 days. An Approved Mental Health Professional certifies that the person is receiving crisis treatment, and the application is made through a debt adviser. The 12-month limit does not apply to it.
When it ends
A standard Breathing Space ends 60 days after it started, or the day after it is cancelled. Enforcement can then pick up where it left off unless something else has changed, such as a payment arrangement or a debt solution being put in place.
How it sits alongside the 28-day notice rule
They are separate. The 28-day notice period, new from 1 May 2026, only lengthens the wait before a first visit. Breathing Space stops all enforcement on the debts included, at whatever stage it has reached. A debt adviser can use either or both.
Common questions
Does Breathing Space stop bailiff action?
Yes, for debts that are included in it. Agents cannot visit to take goods, take or sell goods, or contact the person for payment during the Breathing Space. Court fines cannot be included.
Do bailiff fees still get added during Breathing Space?
Fees and charges on the included debts cannot be added during it. Fees that were added before it started remain part of the debt.
Is Breathing Space a debt solution?
No. It is a temporary pause meant to give time to take advice and put something longer term in place.
Does Breathing Space apply in Scotland?
No. Scotland has its own statutory moratorium. Sheriff officers and Scottish debt enforcement
Want to talk it through with someone?
Tell us where things are up to and one of our team will call to talk it through. A debt adviser then explains the options. There is no obligation to go any further.
Speak to someone now on 0161 660 0876
We do not charge for speaking to you. If you choose a debt solution, you are referred to one of our trusted debt solution providers, and we receive a fee if you enter into an agreement with one of them. A debt solution may have fees, which are explained before anything is agreed.
Free debt advice is available
These organisations give free, impartial debt advice and are independent of Bailiff Support Team. Nobody has to use a paid or commercial service to get help with their debts, and using one of the free services does not reduce the options available. Their advisers can also ask an enforcement firm to extend a notice period or apply for Breathing Space where it fits.
- MoneyHelperGovernment-backed. Finds a free debt adviser nearby or online.
- StepChange Debt CharityFree debt advice online and by phone.
- Citizens AdviceDetailed help with bailiffs, online and in person.
- National DebtlineFree advice and sample letters, run by the Money Advice Trust.