Possession Claims
The NRLA Data Observatory is a collection of official and other well-established data sources which when combined, provide a narrative of the Private Rented Sector (PRS). The NRLA tracks approximately 45 key data sets which are updated monthly, quarterly and annually. A selection of these appear in these pages.
Our Deep Insight blog provides a regular extension of the analysis which appears here, as well as those datasets which are not published in the Data Observatory section of this website.
The blog pages also features blog posts from other organisations and academics to provide insight on the PRS. Here you can also find more in-depth summaries of our regular reports and surveys.
Chart 1: Total posession claims, England & Wales
Private landlord possession claims, England & Wales
A possession claim is created when a landlord-claimant begins legal action for an order to regain possession of property by filing in a county court. Quarterly data, now published by the MoJ, goes back to 2009.
Several factors explain the growth in claims displayed in the chart above:
- The effects of the economic cycle and the macro-economy.
- Regulatory changes in Wales.
- The prospect of regulation change in England.
In Q1 2024, the number of claims made by private landlord totalled 7,719:
- This is an increase from the 7,218 made in the previous quarter.
- It is also an increase of over 6% (6.2%) compared to the same quarter in 2023.
Chart 2: Possession claims by landlord type
Possession claims by landlord type & proportion of claims issued by private landlords
This chart displays quarterly possession claims, splitting the total number by those filed by social landlords versus private landlords.
- Typically, the number of claims made by social landlords outweighs those by private landlords.
Covid-19 was an exceptional period, not only did the volume of claims fall, but private landlord claims began to outnumber those of social landlords.
The latest figures from Q1 2024 underline a partial return to ‘normality’:
- Social landlord claims (9,193) are once again regulalrly exceeding those of private landlords (7,719)
- This pattern was re-established commencing Q3 2022.
- Possession claims in the social housing sector made in this latest quarter are the highest since the first quarter of 2020 (when they were 12,119).
However:
- Pre-pandemic, social landlord claims averaged nearly 18,000 per quarter.
Chart 3: Analysis of possession claims and repossessions
Time between PRS landlord possession claims and repossessions (weeks)
England & Wales
Following the first Covid-19 lockdown, there was a sharp increase in the mean and median wait time between a possession claim and the granting of a possession order.
The latest data reveals:
- The mean wait time for private landlords in Q1 2024 was 29.8 weeks while the median time was 23.6 weeks.
Compared to the same quarter in 2023, wait times have not changed significantly:
- In Q1 2023 the mean time was 30.2 weeks, and the median was 23 weeks.
The data indicates that the court system not only still has to return to pre-Covid wait times but is no longer making progress with that ambition.
Prior to the pandemic, the NRLA campaigned for a wait time of ten weeks. This campaign target remains.