Civil justice

Mortgage and landlord possession statistics (NS)

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 2011

Introduction

This quarterly bulletin presents statistics on the numbers of mortgage and landlord possession claims issued in the county courts of England and Wales, and the number of claims which led to orders for possession being made by a judge. It provides a summary overview of volumes over time and by various geographies including county court and local authority. 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.

Main findings

Mortgage possession actions

The numbers of mortgage possession claims issued and claims leading to orders made in the county courts of England and Wales have been reasonably stable during the last two years following steep falls in the second half of 2008 and in 2009, after an increase between 2003 and the first half of 2008, as shown in Figure 1. In particular:

There were 17,890 mortgage possession claims issued in the fourth quarter (October to December) of 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, eight per cent lower than in the fourth quarter of 2010 and one per cent higher than in the third quarter of 2011.
There were 13,607 mortgage possession claims which led to an order being made in the fourth quarter of 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, seven per cent lower than in the fourth quarter of 2010 and two per cent lower than in the third quarter of 2011.
49 per cent of first orders made in mortgage possession claims were suspended in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared to 48 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010, and 49 per cent in the third quarter of 2011. This has increased since the first half of 2010 after remaining reasonably stable since the decrease from 60 per cent in 2003 to 46 per cent in 2007.

Figure 1: Mortgage Possession Actions - England & Wales, 1990 to 2011 Q4

There are various reasons why a claim may not lead to an order for possession being made by the judge (e.g. the parties may have resolved the dispute before the hearing takes place). It takes approximately 8 weeks from a possession claim being issued to an order being made. The proportion of mortgage possession claims which result in an order being made is calculated by comparing the number of first orders to the number of claims issued two months previously (regardless of whether leading to an order being made or not). It has generally risen between 2004 (when it was 61 per cent) and 2009 before stabilising (at around 76 per cent). It was 74 per cent in 2011, compared to 76 per cent in 2010.

Landlord possession actions

The numbers of landlord possession claims issued and claims leading to orders made in the county courts of England and Wales have generally been on a downward trend since 2002, as shown in Figure 2. In particular:

There were 35,439 landlord possession claims issued in the fourth quarter (October to December) of 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, three per cent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2010 and three per cent lower than in the third quarter of 2011.
There were 25,067 landlord possession claims which led to an order being made in the fourth quarter of 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, nine per cent higher than in the fourth quarter of 2010 and one per cent more than in the third quarter of 2011.
44 per cent of first orders made in landlord possession claims were suspended in the fourth quarter of 2011, the same as in the fourth quarter of 2010 and compared to 43 per cent in third quarter of 2011. This has remained around 45 per cent after decreasing annually from 65 per cent in 1999 to 43 per cent in 2007.

Figure 2: Landlord Possession Actions – England & Wales, 1999 to 2011 Q4

There are various reasons why a claim may not lead to an order for possession being made by the judge (e.g. the parties may have resolved the dispute before the hearing or paper assessment takes place). It takes approximately 8 weeks from a possession claim being issued to an order being made. The proportion of landlord possession claims which result in an order being made is calculated by comparing the number of first orders to the number of claims issued two months previously (regardless of whether leading to an order being made or not). It has increased slightly from around 66 per cent between 2000 and 2007 to around 68 per cent between 2008 and 2011. It was 69 per cent in 2011 compared to 68 per cent in 2010.

Explanatory Notes

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

• meet identified user needs;

• are well explained and readily accessible;

• are produced according to sound methods, and

• are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest.

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.

The quarterly time series, both seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted, show some quarter-on-quarter volatility. Users should take care about interpreting trends based on a single quarter's data.

The mortgage data include all types of lenders, 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 procedures. 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.

Revisions: The statistics for the fourth quarter of 2011 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.