02 November 2007
These figures show the numbers of mortgage and landlord possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales for the third quarter of 2007.
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The figures report how many possession proceedings have been issued, and how many orders for possession have been made by the county courts.
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Since many of the orders made will not have been enforced these figures do not reflect how many properties have actually been taken into possession.
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Figures on properties actually being taken into possession are published twice a year by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Further information is available on the Council of Mortgage Lenders website.
Mortgage Possession actions
During the third quarter of 2007:
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34,717 mortgage possession claims were issued, 1% higher than in the third quarter of 2006
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23,806 mortgage possession orders were made, 1% lower than in the third quarter of 2006
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44% of mortgage possession orders were suspended (10,578), compared to 49% in the third quarter of 2006 (11,722)
Table 1a [PDF 0.02mb, 1 page] shows the number of mortgage possession claims issued and orders made for each year, by quarter since 2002.
Landlord Possession actions
During the third quarter of 2007:
- 37,489 landlord possession claims were issued using the standard and accelerated possession procedures, 9% lower than in the third quarter 2006.
- 26,807 landlord possession orders were made through the standard and accelerated possession procedures, 1% lower than in the third quarter of 2006.
- 38% of landlord possession orders made through the standard and accelerated possession procedures, were suspended (10,183), compared to 45% in the third quarter of 2006 (12,096).
- Table 1b shows the number of claims issued and orders made under the standard landlord possession procedure and the accelerated possession procedure for each year, by quarter since 2002.
- Table 2 shows a breakdown by county court, county and region of the numbers of claims issued for the third quarter of 2007, for the first-to-third quarter of 2007 and the respective percentage changes since the corresponding periods in 2006
- Table 3 shows a similar breakdown of the numbers of orders made, except that the figures for courts without access to Possession Claim On-Line are only provided at regional level (for further explanation see recent developments and statistical revisions).
Table 1b [PDF 0.08mb, 1 page]
Tables 2 and 3: 2007 quarter three statistics
Explanatory notes
1. The data provided in each of the tables relate to possession claims issued and orders made in county courts in England and Wales.
2. The mortgage data include all types of lender whether local authority or private (e.g. banks and building societies). The landlord data include all types of landlord whether social or private sector, and cover actions made using both the standard and accelerated possession procedure.
3. The Q3 2007 figures are provisional and therefore liable to revision to take account of any late amendments.
4. Figures on mortgage and landlord possession actions are published on a quarterly basis.
5. The information contained in this publication has been produced using the Management Information System (MIS), a data warehousing facility drawing data directly from court-based information systems.
6. The mortgage possession figures do not indicate how many houses have actually been repossessed through the courts; not all orders result in the properties actually being repossessed.
- Claims Issued. A claimant begins an action for an order for possession of property by issuing a claim in a county court.
- Orders Made. The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction.
- Suspended Orders. Frequently, the court grants the claimant possession but suspends the operation of the order. Provided the defendant complies with the terms of the suspension, which usually requires the defendant to pay the current mortgage/rent instalments plus some of the accrued arrears, the possession order cannot be enforced.
7. The statistics shown for "properties taken into possession" are existing published figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), which is an industry body representing around 98% of the UK residential lending industry. It should be noted that:
- MoJ statistics on court actions cover England and Wales only. CML statistics cover the whole of the UK.
- CML statistics on actual possessions include properties surrendered voluntarily, and are published for half-yearly periods. Given the time lags involved, some of the court orders for these possessions may have been granted in earlier time periods.
- Mortgage possessions counted in the CML statistics predominantly relate to the non-repayment of loans which are secured as a "first charge" against the property. The large majority of "second charge" lending (any loan secured on a property for which a separate first charge loan already exists) falls outside the membership of the CML and therefore any resulting repossessions will not be counted in the CML's figures.
- For more details and other related statistics, please visit the Council for Mortgage Lenders website or contact the CML Press Office on 020 7434 0075.
8. The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) is responsible for government policy on housing and the housing market. Queries on the wider policy implications of these statistics should therefore be directed to the CLG Press Office on 020 7944 3049.
9. Any further media enquiries on this news release should be directed to Zoë Campbell at the Ministry of Justice press office on Tel. 020 7210 8695. For public enquiries please call: 020 7210 8846 or 8818
10. The release schedule for the rest of the year is as follows:
Revised: 2007 Q4 statistics released Friday 8 February 2008