Quarterly National Statistics on possession claim actions in county courts by mortgage lenders and social and private landlords in England and Wales.

The quarterly releases are released by the Ministry of Justice and produced in accordance with arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority. Note that the figures represent court actions for possession and not actual homes repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order being made, while not all court orders result in repossession taking place.

Mortgage and landlord possession statistics – October to December 2012

Introduction

This quarterly bulletin presents the latest statistics on the numbers of mortgage and landlord possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales. The statistics provide summary figures on the volume of cases that follow the court process of possessing a property.

The court process of possessing a property follows broadly four stages:

• a claim being issued by a landlord or mortgage lender,
• an order being made by the County Court,
• a warrant being issued,
• repossession by a County Court Bailiff.
  

The statistics are a leading indicator of the number of properties to be repossessed and the only source of sub-national possession information.  In addition to monitoring court workloads, they are used to assist in the development, monitoring and evaluation of policy both nationally and locally.

Executive summary

Mortgage possession actions, October to December 2012

Possession claims issued: There were 14,130 mortgage possession claims, continuing the downward trend since 2008. This fall in the number of claims coincides with lower interest rates and a more proactive approach from lenders in managing consumers in financial difficulties, and various interventions, such as introduction of the Mortgage Pre-Action Protocol.

Possession claims issued leading to orders: There were 10,141 claims which led to a mortgage possession order, which also continues the downward trend since 2008.

Warrants of possession: There were 7,581 claims leading to warrants of possession, continuing the downward trend from 2009.

Total repossessions (July – September 2012): There were 8,200 mortgage repossessions in the third quarter of 2012. As with warrants, the most recent results show a downward trend from 2009. As part of total repossessions, there were 4,120 repossessions by county court bailiffs.

Possession claims resulting in an order: The latest estimate is that between 64 and 77 per cent of mortgage claims lead to an order, 17-84 per cent of claims will lead to warrants, and 2-26 per cent of claims will lead to repossession by county court bailiffs.  

Landlord possession actions, October to December 2012

Possession claims issued: There were 38,934 landlord possession claims issued, continuing the moderate upward trend since 2010.

Possession claims issued leading to orders: There were 27,173 landlord possession claims which led to an order, also continuing the upward trend since 2010.

Warrants of possession: The number of warrants issued was 14,506 continuing the upward rise since 2008.

Repossession by county court bailiffs: There were 8,668 landlord repossessions also continuing the upward trend since 2010.

Possession claims resulting in an order: The latest estimate is that between 67 and 80 per cent of landlord claims lead to an order, 22-58 per cent of claims will lead to warrants, and 5-27 per cent of claims will lead to repossession by county court bailiffs.

Revisions: The statistics for the fourth quarter of 2012 are provisional, and are therefore liable to revision to take account of any late amendments to the administrative databases from which these statistics are sourced. The standard process for revising the published statistics to account for these late amendments is as follows. An initial revision to the statistics for the latest quarter may be made when the next edition of this bulletin is published. Final figures for this quarter, and for other quarters in the same calendar year, will be published in the bulletin presenting the statistics for the first of the following year.

The bulletin is produced and handled by the ministry's analytical professionals and production staff. Pre-release access of up to 24 hours is granted to the following persons:

Ministry of Justice: Secretary of State, Minister of State, Permanent Secretary, Director of Access to Justice policy and the relevant special adviser, one policy officer and three press officers.

Communities and Local Government: Minister of State (Housing), Housing Markets and Planning Analysis Economist and Statistician and the relevant policy official and press officer.

HM Treasury: Two relevant policy officers.