New figures from the Ministry of Justice show how hard interest rate rises are hitting landlords.
Compared to the same quarter in 2023, landlord possession claims in Q1 2024 increased from 23,389 to 24,874 (up 6%), orders from 17,644 to 18,154 (3%), warrants from 10,503 to 11,407 (9%) and repossessions from 6,501 to 6,864 (6%).
Meanwhile owner occupier mortgage possession claims increased from 4,035 to 5,182 (28%), orders from 2,532 to 3,019 (19%), warrants from 2,636 to 2,881 (9%) and repossessions by county court bailiffs from 729 to 759 (4%).
Rises in possession claims have been recorded in all regions.
Private landlord claims are concentrated in London, with five of the highest 10 claim rates respectively.
The median average time from claim to landlord repossession has increased to 24.1 weeks, up from 22.4 weeks in the same period in 2023.
Meanwhile the median average time from claim to owner occupier mortgage repossession decreased to 45.7 weeks, down from 60.9 weeks in the same period in 2023.
The figures have produced predictable responses from a range of groups.
Law Society president Nick Emmerson says: “We are concerned about the number of people who are at risk of becoming homeless.
"With the cost-of-living crisis and high interest rates, many are struggling with rent and mortgage payments and are at risk of losing their homes. More often than not, legal aid is their only hope but it remains out of reach.
“Our research has found that 25.3m people (42%) do not have a local legal aid provider for housing advice.
“This means that the government's attempt to increase housing advice under the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service can only have a limited impact. More and more law firms can no longer afford to offer advice, as legal aid rates have decreased by almost 50% since 1996.
“The pressure points are clear and the government must address them urgently to stop the increase in the number of people being made homeless.”
And Polly Neate, chief executive of campaigning charity Shelter, comments:“Evictions are rocketing to new heights whilst this government has put the threats of a small group of self-interested landlord backbenchers over the safety and security of 11 million private renters.
“It’s been five years since the government pledged to rebalance the scales in private renting, and what do we have to show for it? A Renters Reform Bill, left in tatters, which will keep renters trapped in the same hellish conditions they’ve endured for decades, or abandon them to the whims of their landlords and the terrifying spectre of homelessness.
“With the Bill now in the hands of the Lords, peers of all stripes must overhaul this threadbare legislation and deliver the change that renters desperately need. Without serious amends to give tenants greater protection from eviction after moving in and longer notice periods, renters' best hope of a stable home will be lost.”
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It would be interesting to know how many of these possession claims wouldn't have happened if Section 24 didn't exist, if UC was paid as per the tenancy agreement and if the court system could process Section 8 non payment of rent evictions in a timely fashion.
How does Polly Neate think that the RRB is going to help the tenants whose home has been repossessed by the bank? The war on LLs is taking its toll on tenants!
This is why I’m surprised BTL lending is still fairly strong. If a tenant’s right to stay in a home trumps the landlords ability to repay a loan, as Polly seems to demand, this has to be a risk factor considered for future lending. Plus the devaluation of a home, sold with a sitting tenant which is also looming as a political possibility, is also a risk factor. Are the BTL companies unaware of the moves to penalise the PRS or are they so driven by exceeding lending targets that they are ignoring the warning signals?
Evictions rocketing to new heights. Tenants trapped in hellish conditions! 🤣 Polly Bleat is certainly a bit of a drama queen. 😡 Use the millions that deluded fools give you, Polly, to build some accommodation for these down trodden tenants you claim to defend.
Yes put your money where your mouth is Polly, lets see a Shelter housing estate DSS welcome!
Andrew, I know they have millions but is is enough to cover Polly’s mouth? 🤣🤣🤣
I seem to recall, forgive me if I am wrong, that Shelter has a turnover of around £80 million. That’s a lot of housing they could spend their money on. This would really help the homeless.
Where is all that money going that they have , they certainly don’t give it to staff
Under the bed 🛌 or similar dark places 🤔💰💰
Well they do pay Polly a strong wage don't they
I recall many years ago a friend worked in a war on want shop , supposedly sending money and aid to .Africa
The boss turned up in a rolls royce
Charity = scam by another name
It would be very interesting to know how many of those re-possession claims are down to Shelter / Generation Rent & THE RENTERS REFORM BILL, is it virtually all we had high interest rates before but it didn’t cause us to sell because we had the confidence that Government supported what we were doing,
So now they are in a different camp despising us and doing everything possible to destroy us pretending to be helping the Tenants, when nothing could be further from the truth.
Had a begging post from either Crisis or Shelter (don't recall which) come up on my Facebook home page. Loads of comments saying how wonderful the charity was and how they gave money to it. I went on the charities jobs web page - copied the link to a £60k+ pa job and sent it to 50-odd of the people commenting telling them this is what your money is paying for and they are taking you for a mug. Didn't actually take long with copy/paste. Think that charity has blocked me now! :-)
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