Possession claims on the rise
The Ministry of Justice has recently published figures for property possessions across both mortgage and rentals. Possession claims have increased across the board. However, thankfully, our Legal Providers – Woodstock – have also seen a decrease in the time it is taking for possession orders to be granted by the courts recently.
Mortgage Possession
The median average time from claim to mortgage repossession has decreased from 108.4 weeks to just 48.7.
Mortgage possession claims fell from a peak of 26,419 in April to June 2009 (in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash) before stabilising from April to June 2015. In the most recent quarter, April to June 2023, there were 3,986 claims for possession, up 15% from the same quarter in 2022.
Newham, in the London region, had the highest rate of mortgage possession claims at 206 per 100,000 households owned by mortgage or loan, followed by Tower Hamlets (London region) and Blackpool (Northwest region); with 163 and 148 claims per 100,000 respectively.
Landlord Possession
Regarding landlord possession claims, the following figures have been published:
- Overall landlord possession claims increased from 18,193 to 22,537 (24%),
- Possession orders were up from 14,309 to 16,010 (12%),
- Warrants for possession went up from 7,793 to 9,886 (27%) and repossessions rose from 4,951 to 5,868 (19%).
- Landlords using the accelerated possession procedure have increased across the full process
- Accelerated possession claims increased by (34%)
- Possession orders were up (22%)
- Warrants for possession went up (48%)
- Repossessions rose (47%)
As mentioned, the time from making a claim to the time that the landlord is gaining possession has reduced from 23.4 weeks to 22.1 weeks. Hopefully, this will continue to decrease further.
If you have been affected by the issues discussed in this article, please reach out to Woodstock Legal Services via The Lettings Hub, who will be happy to help.
