Ministry of Justice

Quarterly mortgage and landlord possession statistics

09 May 2008

Data

Figures showing the numbers of mortgage and landlord possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales for the first quarter of 2008.

These figures show the numbers of mortgage and landlord possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales for the first quarter of 2008.

The figures report how many possession proceedings have been issued, and how many orders for possession have been made by the county courts.

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.

Figures on properties actually being taken into possession are published twice a year by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

During the first quarter of 2008:

  • 38,688 mortgage possession claims were issued on a seasonally adjusted basis, 16% higher than in the first quarter of 2007 and 7% higher than in the fourth quarter of 2007.
  • 27,530 mortgage possession orders were made on a seasonally adjusted basis, 17% higher than in the first quarter of 2007 and 9% higher than in the fourth quarter of 2007.
  • 47% of mortgage possession orders were suspended, compared to 47% in the first quarter of 2007 and 46% in the fourth quarter of 2007.

Also during the first quarter of 2008:

  • 37,221 landlord possession claims were issued using the standard and accelerated possession procedures on a seasonally adjusted basis, 4% higher than in the first quarter of 2007 and the same as the fourth quarter of 2007.
  • 28,503 landlord possession orders were made through the standard and accelerated possession procedures on a seasonally adjusted basis, 10% higher than in the first quarter of 2007 and 2% higher than in the fourth quarter of 2007.
  • 41% of landlord possession orders made through the standard and accelerated possession procedures, were suspended, compared to 42% in the first quarter of 2007 and 41% in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The mortgage and landlord possession statistics are published on the Ministry of Justice website.

Table 1a (see page 4 of 'National figures - first quarter 2008') shows the number of mortgage possession claims issued and orders made for each year since 1990 and for each quarter since 2002.

Tables 1b and 1c (see pages 5 and 6) show the number of claims issued and orders made under the standard landlord possession procedure and the accelerated possession procedure for each year since 1990 and for each quarter since 2002.

Table 2 shows a breakdown by county court, county and region of the figures for the first quarter of 2008 and the percentage change since the corresponding quarter of 2007.

Table 3 shows a breakdown by county court and region of the figures for the first quarter of 2008 and the percentage change since the corresponding quarter of 2007.

Explanatory notes

  • The data provided in each of the tables relate to possession claims issued and orders made in county courts in England and Wales.
  • 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. The accelerated possession procedure is used by landlords in relation to assured shorthold tenancies, when the fixed period of tenancy has come to an end. It enables orders to be made by the court solely on the basis of written evidence and without calling the parties to a hearing.
  • The Q1 2008 figures are provisional and therefore liable to revision to take account of any late amendments.
  • Percentage changes are not provided where there are less than 20 observations in the past period.
  • Figures on mortgage and landlord possession actions are published on a quarterly basis.
  • The information contained in this publication has been produced using the Management Information System, a data warehousing facility drawing data directly from court-based information systems.
  • Seasonally-adjusted figures are provided as well as non-seasonally adjusted ones. Seasonal adjustments is a statistical technique by which changes that are due to seasonal or other calendar influences are removed to produce a clearer picture of the underlying behaviour of the data series. The two sets of figures serve distinctly different purposes. In broad terms, the unadjusted figures are the most accurate count of the actual number of possession actions in a given period, while the seasonally-adjusted figures give a better and more meaningful picture of changes over time. The seasonal adjustment models have been created using X12 ARIMA, the standard tool used for this purpose in government statistics.
  • 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.
  • 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:
    • Ministry of Justice 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 CML website.
  • The department for Communities and Local Government is responsible for government policy on housing and the housing market.
  • For public enquiries please call: 020 7210 8846 or 8818
  • The release schedule for the rest of the year is as follows:

Revised: 2008 Q2 statistics released Friday 8 August 2008

This page was printed from the Ministry of Justice website. It is subject to © Crown Copyright