Mortgage and landlord possession statistics: April to June 2024 (2024)

1. Main Points

This publication presents quarterly mortgage and landlord possession statistics up to April to June 2024. In general, we have compared figures to the same quarter in the previous year. Should users wish to compare against previous years, they can do so using the accompanying statistical tables. For technical detail, please refer to the accompanying supporting document.

A data visualisation tool has also been published that provides further breakdowns in a web-based application. The tool can be found here.

For feedback related to the content of this publication and visualisation tool, please contact us at CAJS@justice.gov.uk

Both mortgage and landlord possessions actions have continued to rise in the current quarter. Mortgage claims have reached their highest volume since Q2 2019 and are now close to pre-covid volumes. This increase has been seen across all mortgage possession actions.

All landlord possession actions have also continued to rise compared to the same period in 2023, albeit at a lesser rate than mortgage possession actions and not yet at pre covid levels. These increases in landlord possession actions are reflected across all actions for social landlord, private landlord and accelerated procedure claims.

Mortgage possession timeliness has decreased for both claims to warrants (34.1 weeks) and claims to repossession (45.9 weeks), whereas a slight increase was recorded for claims to order (8.4 weeks) compared to Q2 2023. This contrasts with landlord possession timeliness, which has increased across all action types compared to the same period in 2023.

3. Overview of Mortgage Possession

Mortgage possession actions: claims, orders, warrants and repossessions are all currently above the previous year’s levels.

Compared to the same quarter in 2023, mortgage possession claims (5,343) are up 34%. Mortgage orders for possession (3,395) are up 34%, warrants issued (2,918) are up 9% and repossessions (854) are up 29%.

Figure 1: Mortgage possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales, April to June 2019 to April to June 2024 (Source: Table 1)

Mortgage possession claims have been steadily increasing since Q2 2021 (apart from small dips in some quarters) and continue to rise in the latest quarter. Claims, warrants and repossession volumes are now 14%, 38% and 32% below the Q2 2019 volume.

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 in 2015. In the most recent quarter, Q2 2024, there were 5,343 claims for possession, up 34% from the same quarter in 2023.

Orders and warrants for possession have followed a similar trend to mortgage claims. Compared to the same quarter in 2023, orders are up 34% to 3,395 and warrants are up 9% to 2,918 in Q2 2024.

Following FCA guidance to avoid possession proceedings during the pandemic, repossessions were very low during most of 2020 and 2021. While they have increased recently, they remain below pre-Covid levels.

Before the impact of coronavirus, the historical fall in the number of mortgage possession actions since 2008 has generally coincided with lower interest rates, a proactive approach from lenders in managing consumers in financial difficulties and other interventions, such as the Mortgage Rescue Scheme and the introduction of the Mortgage Pre-Action Protocol. The trend seen in recent years mirrors that seen in the proportion of owner-occupiers.

4. Mortgage Possession Action Timeliness

Claim to warrant and claim to repossession median timeliness have decreased for the third consecutive quarter whereas median timeliness for claim to order has increased slightly over this period.

The median average time from claim to repossession has decreased to 45.9 weeks, down from 48.7 weeks in the same period in 2023.

Figure 2: Average timeliness of mortgage possession actions, April to June 2019 to April to June 2024 (Source: Table 3)

Number of weeks taken from initial mortgage claim to…

Median times taken to complete mortgage actions have decreased for both claims to warrant and claims to repossession compared to the same quarter in 2023, whereas a slight increase has been recorded for claims to order over the same period. This is following a push from courts to reduce backlogs and ensure swift access to justice. This quarter;

• Claims to order median timeliness is currently 8.4 weeks, up from 8.1 weeks in the same period in 2023.

• Claims to warrant median timeliness has decreased to 34.1 weeks, down from 42.9 weeks in the same period in 2023.

• Claims to repossession median timeliness has decreased to 45.9 weeks, down from 48.7 weeks in the same period in 2023.

The trend for mortgage possession timeliness is driven by outright orders, which make up around two thirds of all cases. In the most recent quarter, the median time taken from claim to repossession was 40.8 weeks for outright orders, and 130.9 weeks for suspended orders.

The above charts distinguish between the timeliness of possession claims at different stages of a case. Average time taken from claim to warrant or repossession can fluctuate and is affected by various factors. For example, the final two charts take account of the amount of time between the court order being issued and the claimant, such as the mortgage lender, applying for a warrant of possession.

The long-term increases in the mean average time from claim to warrant and claim to repossession are due to an increasing proportion of historic claims reaching the warrant and repossession stages respectively in recent quarters. This is possibly due to defendants breaking the terms of the mortgage agreements put in place at the start of the process. Although these historical outlying cases inflate the mean average, they have less effect on the median.

5. Overview of Landlord Possession

The number of landlord possession actions for all court stages have increased compared to the same quarter of last year.

Claims (24,495), orders for possession (18,436), warrants (11,172) and repossessions (6,927) have increased by 9%, 15%, 12% and 16% respectively compared to the same quarter in 2023.

Figure 3: Landlord possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales, April to June 2019 to April to June 2024 (Source: Table 4)

Landlord possession actions have shown a general increase since Q2 2021. Within the landlord possession actions, claims have increased across all procedures with accelerated claims up 9%, private landlord claims up 5% and social landlord claims up 12% compared to the same quarter in 2023.

In Q2 2024, 34% or 8,379 of all landlord possession claims were social landlord claims compared to private landlord claims (31% or 7,668). 34% (8,448) were accelerated claims. This contrasts with pre-covid proportions when a majority of claims (around 60%) were social landlord claims.

The rise in claim and orders volumes is observed across most geographical regions. As in previous quarters, a concentration was seen in London, with 8,488 landlord claims and 5,782 landlord orders at London courts in Q2 2024, accounting for 35% and 31% of the respective totals. In London, there was an increase of 16% (from 7,315 in Q2 2023) for landlord claims and an increase of 32% for landlord orders (from 4,384 in Q2 2023).

The 12% increase in landlord warrants compared to Q2 2023, was accompanied by increases across all regions except Wales. The largest regional number (4,315) was again found in London, making up 39% of all landlord warrants. There was an increase of 33% for landlord warrants in London (from 3,248 in Q2 2023 to 4,315 in Q2 2024).

The Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service (HLPAS) provides advice to tenants and homeowners as soon as they are served with a written notice asking them to leave their home. Individuals who require the service do not need to meet legal aid financial eligibility rules as the service is not means tested but they are required to show evidence that they are at risk of losing their home. More information can be found here.

6. Landlord Possession Timeliness

Median timeliness figures have increased slightly for landlord orders and warrants to around pre-Covid levels.

The median average time from claim to repossession has increased to 25.4 weeks, up from 22.1 weeks in the same period of 2023.

Figure 4: Average timeliness of landlord possession actions, April to June 2019 to April to June 2024 (Source: Table 6)

Number of weeks taken from initial landlord claim to…

The median time taken to complete landlord actions increased for orders, warrants and repossessions this quarter.

• Claims to order median timeliness has increased to 8.1 weeks, up from 7.6 weeks in the same period in 2023.

• Claims to warrant median timeliness is currently 14.1 weeks, up from 13.7 weeks in the same period in 2023.

• Claims to repossessions median timeliness has increased to 25.4 weeks, up from 22.1 weeks in the same period in 2023.

As shown by Figure 4, median figures are generally considerably lower than mean figures, demonstrating that progression from claim to successive stages can be positively skewed by outlying cases.

7. Regional Possession Claims

Maps 5 to 7 which are usually included in this section have not currently been updated to Q2 2024 due to technical issues with this feature. These will be updated as soon as possible in subsequent quarterly publications. All data used to populate these maps can be found in the Map_csv file published alongside Mortgage and Landlord Possessions Statistics.

Since Q4 2022, the methodology used for calculating the rates of possession claims and repossessions had been modified to take into account the variation in proportions of tenure types in each local authority (LA) as measured by the 2021 census. The previous methodology (in place prior to Q4 2022) used total household figures as the denominator for all claims and repossessions rates. Since Q4 2022, this has now been modified to use household volumes by tenure^{[footnote 1]}; mortgage, social and private landlord volumes for each local authority. For example, the rate of mortgage claims is now calculated as the number of mortgage claims divided by the number of households owned by a mortgage or loan in each LA. Similarly, rates for private and social landlord claims and repossessions have now been calculated separately^{[footnote 2]} as a rate of households in each LA owned by a private or social landlord respectively. More information on this change is provided in the accompanying guide here.

City of London, in the London region, had the highest rate of mortgage possession claims at 294 per 100,000 households owned by mortgage or loan, followed by Newham (London region) and Kensington and Chelsea (London region); with 259 and 228 claims per 100,000 respectively.

The highest private landlord possession claim rates were found in London, with 7 of the 10 highest rates occurring in this region. Barking and Dagenham (London region) had the highest rate for private landlord claims (850 per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord), followed by Newham (London region) and Redbridge (London region) with 823 and 652 claims per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord respectively.

Tewkesbury (South West region) had the highest social landlord possession claim rate with 1,250 per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord. This was followed by South Gloucestershire (South West region) and Cotswold (South West region) with 1,028 and 979 per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord respectively.

London boroughs accounted for 6 of the 10 local authorities with the highest rate of mortgage claims.

1 local authorities had no mortgage possession claims during this period. Excluding this, East Hampshire had the lowest rate of mortgage claims (11.5 per 100,000 households owned by a mortgage or loan).

London boroughs accounted for 7 of the 10 local authorities with the highest rate of private landlord claims.

3 local authorities had no private landlord claims during this period. Excluding these, East Devon had the lowest rate of private landlord claims (9.3 per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord).

South West boroughs accounted for 3 of the 10 local authorities with the highest rate of social landlord claims.

4 local authorities had no social landlord claims during this period. Excluding these, Pembrokeshire had the lowest rate of social landlord claims (11.1 per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord).

8. Regional Repossessions (by County Court Bailiffs)

Maps 8 to 10 which are usually included in this section have not currently been updated to Q2 2024 due to technical issues with this feature. These will be updated as soon as possible in subsequent quarterly publications. All data used to populate these maps can be found in the Map_csv file published alongside Mortgage and Landlord Possessions Statistics.

Blackpool had the highest overall rate of mortgage repossessions at 77 per 100,000 households owned by a mortgage or loan.

Private landlord repossessions were highest in Newham with 202 per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord.

Social landlord repossessions were highest in Malvern Hills with 180 per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord.

North East local authorities account for 4 of the 10 boroughs with the highest rate of mortgage repossessions.

No repossessions by county court bailiffs were recorded during this period in 73 local authorities out of a total of 318.

London local authorities account for 6 of the 10 boroughs with the highest rate of private landlord repossessions.

40 local authorities had no private landlord repossessions by county court bailiffs in Q2 2024.

East Midlands, London and South East local authorities accounted for 2 each of the 10 boroughs with the highest rate of social landlord repossessions.

42 local authorities had no social landlord repossessions by county court bailiffs in Q2 2024.

As with claims, it should be noted that for some of these areas the rates are based on a small number of possessions.

9. Further information

The statistics in the latest quarter are provisional and revisions may be made when the next edition of this bulletin is published. If revisions are needed in subsequent quarters, these will be annotated in the tables.

9.1 Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

• A supporting guide providing further information on how the data is collected and processed, including a guide to the csv files, as well as legislation relevant to mortgage possessions and background information.

• A set of overview tables (also available in accessible format), covering key sections of this bulletin.

• CSV files of the map data and the possession action volumes by local authority and county court.

• A data visualisation tool which provides a detailed view of the Mortgage and Landlord statistics. We welcome feedback on this tool to help improve it in later editions and to ensure it meets user needs.

9.2 National Statistics status

National Statistics are accredited official statistics (https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/accredited-official-statistics/) that meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value.

Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in September 2021. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

It is the Ministry of Justice’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected for National Statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. National Statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when the standards are restored. These statistics have been audited and re-accredited as National Statistics. The most recent compliance check completed by the Office of Statistics Regulation can be found here.

9.3 Future publications

Our statisticians regularly review the content of publications. Development of new and improved statistical outputs is usually dependent on reallocating existing resources. As part of our continual review and prioritisation, we welcome user feedback on existing outputs including content, breadth, frequency and methodology. Please send any comments you have on this publication including suggestions for further developments or reductions in content.

9.4 Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government press office:

email: newsdesk@communities.gov.uk

Other enquiries and feedback on these statistics should be directed to the Courts and People unit of the Ministry of Justice:

Rita Kumi-Ampofo - email: CAJS@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 14 November 2024

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