There has been a significant fall in the number of claims made by private landlords to repossess property during the last two years, according to new data.
Official figures provided by the Ministry of Justice show that the number of possession claims made to country courts in England and Wales by private landlords have dropped substantially during this period.
Fall in possessions
Data from the report shows that possessions made by landlords have fallen from a high of 6,486 during quarter one of 2014, to 5,129 in the third quarter of this year.
The news of improvements comes after an independent English Housing Survey discovered that in 2014-15, private rental tenants have lived in their current property for an average of four years.
Assessing the data, David Smith, policy director at the Residential Landlords Association, feels the results serve as a reminder that: ‘landlords do not seek to re-possess properties lightly.’[1]
‘With tenants also living an average of four years in private rented homes, the sector is stepping up to the demand for long term housing without the need for heavy handed legislation,’ he added.[1]
Large drop in repossession claims in the last two years
Orders
The report also shows that during July and September 2016, landlords made 20,753 possession claims. 60% were from social landlords, with those in the private rental sector making up just 15%.
Landlord possession claims (34,414), possession orders (26,157), warrants of possession (18,450 and repossession claims (9,689) were down by 11%, 10%, 8% and 14% respectively, in comparison to the same period last year.
[1] https://www.landlordtoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2016/11/significant-drop-in-landlord-possession-claims