Mortgage possession claims jumped by 56% in Q3 compared to the same period last year, new data published by the Ministry of Justice has revealed.

The number of possession claims rose from 4,188 in 2023 to 6,525 this year between the months of July and September.

When compared to the same quarter in 2023, there was also a 2% increase in landlord possession claims, from 24,922 to 25,418.

According to the figures, the mortgage sector also experienced a rise in orders from 2,923 to 4,038 (38%), warrants from 2,345 to 3,119 (33%) and repossessions by county court bailiffs from 635 to 861 (36%) during Q3.

The Ministry of Justice said that both mortgage and landlord possession actions had reached 2019 levels in Q3, although mortgage actions have increased at a “much greater rate” than landlord actions.

“The rise in landlord claims is driven by an increase in private landlord claims, whilst social landlord and accelerated claims have remained relatively stable,” the Ministry of Justice stated.

“For mortgages, the number of orders, warrants, and repossessions has increased while the median time taken between claim to warrant and claim to repossession continues to fall in the latest quarter. The median time taken between claim to repossession has fallen by 13.9 weeks since the same period last year.”

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