No one is immune to the housing slump or a house repossession. Take for example, Nicolas Cage, who just last year was the fifth biggest earner in Hollywood with a £26 million income. He once owned 15 mansions (some of them are literally palaces), had four yachts, an island in Bahamas, a private plane, and so much more. But early this year, one of his homes, a £27 million Tudor estate in Bel-Air, California, was repossessed. So, Hollywood star? Not exempt.

How about a young entrepreneur who earned his millions during the dotcom era and more recently in the property sector? Robert Bonnier is just 38 years old, yet he has gone from cashing in big time on the dotcom boom, seeing his fortune fall, and then going on to recoup his millions again. But guess what? Bonnier couldn't evade the housing slump. His six-bedroom house in Holland Park, London, which he was planning to sell for £15 million, was repossessed two years ago, in what was the biggest repossession in the United Kingdom.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders said in a report on the telegraph that it "had never heard of repossession of a property so highly valued."

That was until property magnate Cevdet Caner lost his £21 million property in Mayfair a year ago. His own Monaco-based property investment company, Level One, had collapsed. The truth here is, rich or poor, famous or ordinary, the danger of repossession is never too far.

But here's what's not true - John Healey's claim that repossession may be the best option for some homeowners.

When asked on BBC's Radio 5 Live why despite government programs to help families stay in their homes, there were 46,000 repossessions last year, he replied:

"In some cases there is no way round that and in some cases it is the best thing for the people who are struggling with these mortgages... Sometimes it is impossible for people to maintain the mortgage commitments they've got... it may be the best thing to do in those circumstances."

Of course, these comments provoked a hailstorm of criticism, with Grant Shapps, the Shadow Housing Minister, demanding an apology on behalf of "the tens of thousands of families who have lost the roof over their heads."

While the figures are not encouraging - less than 100 families completed the government's Mortgage Rescue Scheme - repossession is not the best, and is definitely not the last option for homeowners struggling to pay their mortgage.

There are now so-called "cash home buyers" who can rescue you from house repossession even when you've been served an eviction notice or have been scheduled for a court hearing. At that point, it may be irrelevant to seek the help of an estate agent, but cash home buyers can.

How? Either they have the cash funds or they have a network of home investors with cash so they are ready to buy your house anytime. There is minimal paperwork involved as there are really very few parties involved in the negotiations; in fact, it's essentially just the buyer and the seller, plain and simple. So it only takes a few days or weeks to complete a sale. And because there is no estate agent acting as a middleman, the seller gets to save on estate agent and legal fees as well.

If it sounds too good to be true, it actually isn't. Before you decide to go this route, what you should understand is that this should be a last resort - whether you need to sell house quickly to be able to pay off debts, or to settle a divorce, or relocate for a job. If you have money and time, then maybe you should wait until you get the right buyer for the right price. Cash home buyers usually offer slightly below the market value (75-90 percent of the market value), still a good deal though considering the speed at which you will be able to sell your house and collect your cash.

So while it's true that the housing slump is not over and repossession is a possibility, it's not true that repossession is the best and last option. You need not lose everything that you have worked hard for just because you are cash-strapped. Your home is worth a lot and there is always a way to sell it and earn back your money, or whatever is left of it.