Landlord Repossession Statistics

In summary in the last reported quarter ending Sept 2010 there were 33,960 Tenants Evicted and a further 20,000 (estimated) people Evicted for Mortgage arrears this means in a typical quarter over 50,000 people will be looking for a new Landlord. This is why tenant vetting is so important

33,960 landlord possession claims were issued in the third quarter (July to September) of 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, which was 1% higher than in the third quarter of 2009 and 2% higher than in the second quarter of 2010;
22,631 landlord possession claims led to orders being made in the third quarter of 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, which was 2% lower than in the third quarter of 2009 and was 3% lower than in the second quarter of 2010
42% of landlord claims leading to orders being made in the third quarter of 2010 were suspended compared to 48% in the third quarter of 2009 and 43% in the second quarter of 2010. This had generally increased from the second quarter of 2007 (41%) to the first quarter of 2010 after decreasing annually from 65% in 1999 to 43% in 2007;

There are various reasons why a claim may not lead to an order for possession being made by the judge; the parties may have resolved the dispute before the hearing or paper assessment takes place, for example through the tenant handing back the keys or paying off the rental arrears, or the judge may decide not to make an order for possession. The number of landlord possession claims leading to an order being made, expressed as a proportion of the total number of landlord possession claims issued 2 months in arrears (as orders are typically made around 8 weeks after claims are issued) has remained relatively stable around 66% over the last decade. It was 68% in the year ending 30 September 2010 compared to 67% in the year ending 30 September 2009.