Accredited official statistics

Mortgage and landlord possession statistics: January to March 2025

Published 15 May 2025

Applies to England and Wales

1. Main Points

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This publication presents quarterly mortgage and landlord possession statistics up to January to March 2025. 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 published alongside this bulletin here: Mortgage and landlord possession statistics - GOV.UK

All mortgage actions have increased	Compared to the same quarter in 2024 there were increases in mortgage possession claims from 5,182 to 6,765 (31%), orders from 3,013 to 4,624 (53%), warrants from 2,919 to 3,517 (20%) and repossessions by county court bailiffs from 769 to 1,092 (42%).
Landlord possession orders and repossessions have increased	When compared to the same quarter in 2024 there were decreases in landlord possession claims from 24,869 to 23,976 (4%), and warrants from 11,556 to 10,849 (6%) while there were increases in orders from 18,140 to 18,713 (3%), and repossessions from 6,938 to 7,308 (5%).
Mortgage possession claims have risen across all regions	Decreases in landlord possession claims have been recorded across all regions except the North East. Meanwhile increases in mortgage possession claims have been recorded in all regions. All types of landlord claims remained concentrated in London.
Median timeliness for mortgage repossessions and warrants have continued to decrease.	The median average time from claim to mortgage repossession has decreased to 40.3 weeks, down from 46.1 weeks and warrants has decreased to 30.4 weeks, down from 36.6 weeks in the same period in 2024.
Median timeliness for landlord repossessions has increased.	The median average time from claim to landlord repossession has increased to 26.1 weeks, up from 24.1 weeks in the same period in 2024.

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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

2. Statistician’s Comment

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The number of landlord possession claims and warrants have decreased when compared to the same quarter in 2024, whilst the number of orders and repossessions have increased. The reduction in landlord claims is driven by falls in both accelerated and private landlord claims. The median timeliness of landlord claims to repossessions has risen by 2 weeks when compared to the same period in 2024.

Mortgage actions have all continued to increase this quarter with mortgage claims rising across all regions. The median timeliness for mortgage claims to repossession has fallen by 5.9 weeks compared to the same quarter last year.

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3. Overview of Mortgage Possession

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

Compared to the same quarter in 2024, mortgage possession claims (6,765) are up 31%. Mortgage orders for possession (4,624) are up 53%, warrants issued (3,517) are up 20% and repossessions (1,092) are up 42%.

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Figure 1: Mortgage possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales, January to March 2020 to January to March 2025 (Source: Table 1)

Mortgage possession claims have generally risen since Q2 2021 and continue to rise in the latest quarter. Claims and orders are now 10% and 8% above the volume in Q1 2019 respectively, whereas, warrants and repossession volumes are 26% and 17% below the Q1 2019 volume respectively.

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, Q1 2025, there were 6,765 claims for possession, up 31% from the same quarter in 2024.

Orders and warrants for possession have followed a similar trend to mortgage claims. Compared to the same quarter in 2024, orders are up 53% to 4,624 and warrants are up 20% to 3,517 in Q1 2025.

Before the impact of Covid-19, 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.

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4. Mortgage Possession Action Timeliness

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Claim to warrant and claim to repossession median timeliness have decreased by 6.2 weeks and 5.9 weeks respectively compared to the same quarter last year, while median timeliness for claim to order has increased slightly by 0.6 weeks over this period.

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Figure 2: Average timeliness of mortgage possession actions, January to March 2020 to January to March 2025 (Source: Table 3)

Number of weeks taken from initial mortgage claim to…

Median times taken to complete mortgage actions has increased slightly for claims to orders compared to the same quarter in 2024, whereas a larger decrease has been recorded for claims to warrants and claims to repossession 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 9 weeks, up from 8.4 weeks in the same period in 2024.

• Claims to warrant median timeliness has decreased to 30.4 weeks, down from 36.6 weeks in the same period in 2024.

• Claims to repossession median timeliness has decreased to 40.3 weeks, down from 46.1 weeks in the same period in 2024.

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 35.8 weeks for outright orders, and 153.6 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 claim to 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.

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

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5. Overview of Landlord Possession

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The number of landlord possession actions for orders and repossessions have increased compared to the same quarter of last year, whilst claims and warrants have decreased.

Claims (23,976) and warrants (10,849) have decreased by 4% and 6% respectively compared to the same quarter in 2024. While orders for possession (18,713), and repossessions (7,308) have increased by 3%, and 5% respectively over the same period.

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Figure 3: Landlord possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales, January to March 2020 to January to March 2025 (Source: Table 4)

Landlord possession claims have shown a general increase since Q2 2021 peaking in Q3 2024 at 25,402 before dropping in the last 2 quarters currently at 23,976. Within the landlord possession actions, accelerated claims are down 6%, private landlord claims are down 5% and social landlord claims have remained stable compared to the same quarter in 2024.

In Q1 2025, 38% (9,170) of all landlord possession claims were social landlord claims, compared to 31% (7,340) private landlord claims and 31% (7,466) accelerated claims. This contrasts with pre-covid proportions when a majority of claims (around 60%) were social landlord claims.

The rise in order volumes is driven by an increase in London. As in previous quarters, a concentration was seen in London, with 6,141 landlord orders at London courts in Q1 2025, accounting for 33% of the total orders. While claims saw a decrease across most regions 33% of total claims were recorded in London (7,802). In London there was a decrease of 3% (from 8,004 in Q1 2024) for landlord claims and an increase of 12% for landlord orders (from 5,491 in Q1 2024).

The 6% decrease in landlord warrants compared to Q1 2024, was driven by a decrease in London. Meanwhile, the Midlands and North East both saw decreases in the number of warrants over this period. The largest regional number (3,604) was again found in London, making up 33% of all landlord warrants. There was a decrease of 16% for landlord warrants in London (from 4,286 in Q1 2024 to 3,604 in Q1 2025).

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.

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6. Landlord Possession Timeliness

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Median timeliness figures for landlord orders have remained stable while repossession timeliness has increased by 2 weeks this quarter, with timeliness figures for warrants falling slightly by 0.3 weeks.

The median average time from claim to repossession has increased to 26.1 weeks, up from 24.1 weeks in the same period of 2024.

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Figure 4: Average timeliness of landlord possession actions, January to March 2020 to January to March 2025 (Source: Table 6)

Number of weeks taken from initial landlord claim to…

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

• Claims to order median timeliness is currently 8.3 weeks, unchanged from the same period in 2024.

• Claims to warrant median timeliness is currently 15.9 weeks, down from 16.1 weeks in the same period in 2024.

• Claims to repossessions median timeliness has increased to 26.1 weeks, up from 24.1 weeks in the same period in 2024.

As shown in 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.

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7. Regional Possession Claims

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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 to this publication here.

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Figure 5: Mortgage possession Claims per 100,000 households owned by a mortgage or loan, January to March 2025 (Source: map.csv; see supporting guide)

Local Authority	Rate (per 100,000 households owned by a mortgage or loan)	Actual number
City of London	441	<10
Brent	272	59
Westminster	270	29

London boroughs accounted for 5 of the 10 local authorities with the highest rate of mortgage claims. City of London, in the London region, had the highest rate of mortgage possession claims at 441 per 100,000 households owned by mortgage or loan, followed by Brent (London region) and Westminster (London region); with 272 and 270 claims per 100,000 respectively. The Isles of Scilly and the City of London have very small populations (ranked 309th and 308th out of 309 respectively for population size) therefore rates may be less robust.

1 local authority had no mortgage possession claims during this period. Excluding this South Cambridgeshire had the lowest rate of mortgage claims (18.4 per 100,000 households owned by a mortgage or loan).

Figure 6: Private landlord possession Claims per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord, January to March 2025 (Source: map.csv; see supporting guide)

Local Authority	Rate (per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord)	Actual number
Barking and Dagenham	671	120
Redbridge	488	154
Croydon	472	186

London boroughs accounted for 6 of the 10 local authorities with the highest rate of private landlord claims. Barking and Dagenham (London region) had the highest rate for private landlord claims (671 per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord), followed by Redbridge (London region) and Croydon (London region) with 488 and 472 claims per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord respectively.

5 local authorities had no private landlord claims during this period. Excluding these, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk had the lowest rate of private landlord claims (7.9 per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord).

Figure 7: Social landlord possession Claims per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord, January to March 2025 (Source: map.csv; see supporting guide)

Local Authority	Rate (per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord)	Actual number
Stratford-on-Avon	759	60
Enfield	729	150
Kingston upon Thames	525	38

London boroughs accounted for 6 of the 10 local authorities with the highest rate of social landlord claims. Stratford-on-Avon (West Midlands region) had the highest social landlord possession claim rate with 759 per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord. This was followed by Enfield (London region) and Kingston upon Thames (London region) with 729 and 525 per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord respectively.

2 local authorities had no social landlord claims during this period. Excluding these, Neath Port Talbot had the lowest rate of social landlord claims (8.3 per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord).

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8. Regional Repossessions (by County Court Bailiffs)

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Hartlepool had the highest overall rate of mortgage repossessions at 99 per 100,000 households owned by a mortgage or loan.

Private landlord repossessions were highest in Newham with 346 per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord.

Social landlord repossessions were highest in Castle Point with 341 per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord.

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Figure 8: Mortgage repossessions per 100,000 households owned by a mortgage or loan, January to March 2025 (Source: map.csv; see supporting guide)

Local Authority	Rate (per 100,000 households owned by a mortgage or loan)	Actual number
Hartlepool	99	11
Burnley	83	<10
Sunderland	58	19

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 44 local authorities out of a total of 318.

Figure 9: Private landlord repossessions per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord, January to March 2025 (Source: map.csv; see supporting guide)

Local Authority	Rate (per 100,000 households owned by a private landlord)	Actual number
Newham	346	154
Barking and Dagenham	302	54
Redbridge	295	93

London local authorities account for 4 of the 10 boroughs with the highest rate of private landlord repossessions.

38 local authorities had no private landlord repossessions by county court bailiffs in Q1 2025.

Figure 10: Social landlord repossessions per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord, January to March 2025 (Source: map.csv; see supporting guide)

Local Authority	Rate (per 100,000 households owned by a social landlord)	Actual number
Castle Point	341	<10
Torridge	140	<10
Rochford	139	<10

East of England local authorities account for 3 of the 10 boroughs with the highest rate of social landlord repossessions.

36 local authorities had no social landlord repossessions by county court bailiffs in Q1 2025.

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

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9. Further information

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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.

These can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mortgage-and-landlord-possession-statistics-january-to-march-2025

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 August 2025

© Crown Copyright

Produced by the Ministry of Justice

1. Tenure - Office for National Statistics ons.gov.uk. ↩

2. Please note rates for private and social landlord possession claims and repossessions do not include accelerated claims. This is because accelerated claims are recorded onto the case management system at point of entry so do not specify the tenure type. ↩