Just published statistics from the Ministry of Justice reveal that landlord possession claims, court orders, bailiff warrants and successful repossessions by landlord have all increased this year well in excess of the same period in 2021. Possession claims increased by 160% whilst successful repossessions increased by 210%.

The figures show that possession claims increased from 6,997 in the 2nd qtr of 2021 to 18,201 in the same qtr of 2022. Successful repossessions increased from 1,582 to 4,900. Whilst claims by landlords were concentrated in London (9 of the 10 highest claim rates) increases were seen across all regions.

The only "good" (so to speak) news is that the median time from claim to possession decreased from just over 60 weeks to just over 23 weeks. The figures also show a steep and sharp decline for all repossession related court actions in 2020 which can be put down to the pandemic.

Moreover there is little difference between the social landlord and private rented sector landlord actions which see the repossessions by social landlords at 33%, private rented sector landlords at 35% and accelerated claims at 32%. In 2019 by contrast, 23% of claims were by private landlords and 58% by social landlords.