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Repossession Orders: Reading, Berkshire

Volume 493: debated on Wednesday 3 June 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many court orders have been issued for the repossession of homes in Reading, East constituency in each month of the last 10 years. (276995)

Figures for Reading, East constituency are not available. However, the tables show the number of mortgage and landlord possession orders made in Reading county court for each month from 1999.

These figures do not indicate how many homes have actually been repossessed. Repossessions can occur without a court order being made while not all court orders result in repossession.

The civil procedure rules state that all claims for the repossession of land must be commenced in the district in which the land is situated. However, geographical boundaries of county courts may not necessarily be consistent with other administrative or constituency boundaries. Repossession orders made at Reading county court may therefore relate to properties in other constituencies besides Reading, East constituency.

The Ministry of Justice has published a consultation note on proposed changes in the National Statistics on mortgage and landlord possession actions in the county courts of England and Wales. One of the proposed changes is to publish these statistics by local authority area, based on the physical locations of the properties which are the subject of the possession actions, as part of the regular statistical publication from 2009 quarter 2.

Further information can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at

http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/docs/stats-mort-landlord-note.pdf

Number of mortgage1 possession orders made2,3 in Reading county court by each month, 1999-2009

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

20094

January

48

6

31

18

23

3

41

85

56

46

41

February

28

32

7

22

12

66

19

43

32

56

530

March

32

16

27

17

27

38

58

51

42

55

530

April

20

25

20

37

8

25

37

46

39

63

May

13

28

29

8

55

12

37

37

50

69

June

25

38

21

20

25

24

46

26

41

50

July

13

9

34

27

24

38

42

43

51

67

August

10

16

34

9

2

38

79

56

42

64

September

39

34

27

30

70

34

71

84

60

78

October

0

42

0

24

29

16

39

40

44

67

November

38

15

11

11

2

36

46

64

39

43

December

29

20

13

14

59

49

19

53

28

42

Total

295

281

254

237

336

379

534

628

524

700

41

Number of landlord6 possession orders made2,3 in Reading county court by each month, 1999-2009

1999

2000

2001

2002

20Q3

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

20094

January

51

77

71

74

46

58

70

79

76

77

67

February

61

54

44

37

41

50

47

66

67

70

80

March

55

71

66

56

57

64

82

53

68

55

96

April

52

77

45

53

68

51

61

49

38

97

May

64

92

39

58

91

49

54

51

47

51

June

66

86

33

40

35

51

28

37

67

62

July

67

77

64

89

49

34

94

59

56

70

August

52

69

32

54

65

71

44

70

63

35

September

80

106

57

76

85

71

42

63

64

70

October

26

95

47

57

40

39

56

58

66

77

November

113

48

62

68

47

44

65

61

60

54

December

53

42

31

49

53

74

59

45

57

75

Total

740

894

591

711

677

656

702

691

729

793

243

1 Includes all types of mortgage lenders.

2 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.

3 Includes outright and suspended orders, the latter being where the court grants the claimant possession but suspends the operation of the order. Provided the defendant complies with the terms of suspension, which usually require the defendant to pay the current mortgage or rent instalments plus some of the accrued arrears, the possession order cannot be enforced.

4 Figures for the latest quarter (January-March 2009) are provisional. And figures for quarter 2 (April-June) are yet to be released by Ministry of Justice as National Statistics.

5 The Mortgage Pre Action Protocol for possession claims relating to mortgage or home purchase arrears was introduced on 19 November 2008. Its introduction has coincided with a substantial fall in the number of new mortgage possession claims in 2008 quarter 4 and subsequently In the number of mortgage possession orders in 2009 quarter 1.

6 The landlord data include all types of landlords whether social or private sector, and cover orders made using both the standard and accelerated possession procedures. The accelerated procedure is used by landlords in relation to shorthold tenancies, when the fixed period of tenancy has come to an end. It enables orders to be made by the court solely on the basis of written evidence and without calling the parties to hearings.

Source:

Ministry of Justice