County court bailiffs repossessed almost 42,000 properties in 2014, the highest annual figure since records began in 2000, according to new figures from the Ministry of Justice.
The total number of repossessions in 2014 was 41,965, up 11% on 2013.
However, the statistics show that the majority of possession claims in 2014 were social landlord claims (62%), whilst 13% were private landlord claims, and 25% were accelerated claims (when a landlord only claims possession of a home, not overdue rent).
Richard Lambert, chief executive officer of the National Landlords Association (NLA), said: “These statistics reinforce what the NLA has consistently said, that repossession is always a last resort for landlords.
“A landlord will always aim for good, stable, long-term tenancies and repossession just doesn’t make good business sense. Repossessions mean additional costs for landlords in the form of court costs, loss of rent, letting agents’ charges and local empty property charges. That is why only 7% of tenancies are ended by the landlord.
“We are pleased that these official statistics debunk the myths that are often ignorantly circulated about the private rented sector.”
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