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Repossession Orders: Greater London

Volume 463: debated on Monday 23 July 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many court orders were issued for the repossession of homes by each London county court in each of the last three years. (150562)

The table shows the number of mortgage possession orders made in each London county court since 2004.

The civil procedure rules provide that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. However, these county courts cover areas that are not necessarily consistent with other administrative or constituency boundaries, and therefore for example, possession orders made at Croydon county court may relate to properties in other London boroughs besides Croydon.

These figures do not indicate how many houses have been repossessed through the courts, since not all orders result in the properties actually being repossessed.

Number of mortgage possession orders made in the county courts in London, 2004-06

Possession orders made1

2004

2005

2006

Barnet

287

552

580

Bow

897

1,423

1,702

Brentford

372

602

779

Bromley

585

1,037

1,121

Central London

265

506

409

Clerkenwell and Shoreditch

406

661

804

Croydon

895

1,474

1,856

Edmonton

644

1,121

1,249

Ilford

392

563

650

Kingston-upon-Thames

209

356

420

Lambeth

553

920

1,089

Mayors and City

3

1

9

Romford

486

900

981

Uxbridge

347

515

595

Wandsworth

340

555

582

West London

141

287

293

Willesden

497

893

1,080

Woolwich

343

624

903

London total

7,662

12,990

15,102

1 Includes suspended orders. The court, following a judicial hearing, may grant an order for possession immediately. This entitles the claimant to apply for a warrant to have the defendant evicted. However, even where a warrant for possession is issued, the parties can still negotiate a compromise to prevent eviction.