Ministry of Justice
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Statistics on Mortgage and Landlord Possession Actions in the County Courts - Third Quarter 2008
These figures show the numbers of mortgage and landlord possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales for the third 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.
* They do not indicate how many properties have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order being made while not all court orders result in repossession.
* Figures showing the actual number of repossessions are
published on a quarterly basis by the Financial Services Authority
(FSA) and the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Further
information can be found on their websites (http://www.fsa.gov.uk and http://www.cml.gov.uk).
Mortgage
Possession actions
During the third quarter of 2008:
* 38,511 mortgage
possession claims were issued on a seasonally adjusted basis, 9%
higher than in the third quarter of 2007 and 1% lower than in the
second of 2008.
* 29,516 mortgage possession orders were made
on a seasonally adjusted basis, 24% higher than in the third
quarter of 2007 and 3% higher than in the second quarter of
2008.
* 47% of mortgage possession orders were suspended
compared to 45% in the third quarter of 2007 and 48% in the second
quarter of 2008
Table 1a (see page 4) shows the number of mortgage possession claims issued and orders made for each year, by quarter since 2003.
Landlord Possession Actions
During the third quarter of
2008:
* 36,923 landlord possession claims were issued using
the standard and accelerated possession procedures on a seasonally
adjusted basis, 1% lower than in the third quarter of 2007 and 2%
lower than in the second quarter of 2008.
* 28,086 landlord
possession orders were made through the standard and accelerated
possession procedures on a seasonally adjusted basis, 4% higher
than in the third quarter of 2007, and broadly the same as the
second quarter of 2008.
* 40% of landlord possession orders
made through the standard and accelerated possession procedures
were suspended, compared to 38% in the third quarter of 2007 and
40% in the second quarter of 2008.
Table 1b (see page 5) 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 2003.
The tables below can be found on the MoJ website using the following link: http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/mortgatelandlordpossession.htm
* Table 2: Shows a breakdown by county court, area and region of the numbers of claims issued for the third quarter of 2008, for the first-to-third quarter of 2008 and the respective percentage changes since the corresponding periods in 2007
* 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 1a: MORTGAGE POSSESSION ACTIONS IN THE COUNTY COURTS1*
Table 1b: LANDLORD POSSESSION ACTIONS IN THE COUNTY COURTS1*
(Please refer to NDS website for full tables https://nds.co.gov.uk )
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 2008 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 CML website at: http://www.cml.org.uk.
8. The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) is responsible for government policy on housing and the housing market.
9. Any public enquiries should be made on Tel. 020 3334 4544.
10. The release schedule for the rest of the year is as follows:
REVISED: 2008 Q4 statistics released Friday 20th February
2009
(Please refer to NDS website for full tables
https://nds.co.gov.uk )
