Landlord Possession Claims Rise in 2024

The number of private landlord possession claims before the court is increasing, and it is taking longer to navigate the legal system.

The latest Ministry of Justice data for the last quarter of 2024 reveals increases in landlord possession claims from 23,374 to 24,010 (3 percent), orders from 17,994 to 18,416 (2 percent), warrants from 10,170 to 10,877 (7 percent), and repossessions from 6,664 to 7,020 (5 percent) compared to the same quarter in 2023.

The median average time from claim to landlord repossession increased to 25 weeks from 23.6 weeks in Q4 2023.

The study says: "Landlord possession actions - claims issued, orders, warrants, and repossessions - have all increased across 2024 compared to the previous calendar year. Compared to the same quarter in 2023, the median time for claims to orders has remained largely stable, increasing by less than a week.

"Claims to warrants have also remained largely stable with the median time taken decreasing by less than a week whilst the median time taken for claim to repossession has seen an increase of 1.4 weeks."

Third of possessions claims in London

Landlord possession actions have generally increased each quarter since Q2 2021. In landlord possession actions, accelerated claims are up 3 percent, private landlord claims are down 2 percent, and social landlord claims are up 7 percent compared to the same quarter in 2023.

In Q4 2024, 38 percent (9,085) of all landlord possession claims were social landlord claims, compared to 30 percent (7,084) of private landlord claims and 33 percent (7,841) of accelerated claims.

The report explained this contrasts with pre-covid data when around 60 per cent were social landlord claims.

As in previous quarters, a concentration of landlord court actions was seen in London, with 8,366 landlord claims and 5,870 landlord orders at London courts in Q4 2024, accounting for 35 percent and 32 percent of the respective totals. In London, there was an increase of 10 percent (from 7,632 in Q4 2023) for landlord claims and 7 percent (from 5,479 in Q4 2023) for landlord orders.

The 7 percent increase in landlord warrants compared to Q4 2023 was driven by the rise in London. Meanwhile, the South East, North West, and Wales all saw warrants decrease over this period. The most significant regional number (4,218) was again found in London, which made up 39 percent of all landlord warrants. There was a 22 percent increase in London landlord warrants (from 3,447 in Q4 2023 to 4,218 in Q4 2024).

London local authorities account for 6 of the 10 boroughs with the highest rate of private landlord repossessions. Most were in the East London borough of Redbridge -with a rate of 241 per 100,000 private rented homes.

Some 42 local authorities had no private landlord repossessions by county court bailiffs in Q4 2024.