The Ministry of Justice has today (19 May) released its latest statistics on mortgage and landlord possessions in England and Wales, covering January-March 2022. 

They show that at this time, there were 19,033 claims for possession made by landlords. Both private landlord claims and claims made as a result of a ‘no fault’ Section 21 notice were above pre-pandemic levels. 

• There were 6,447 claims by private landlords to evict tenants – this is 3% higher than the same period in 2019, before the pandemic. 
• There were 6,066 accelerated procedure claims being made as a result of a Section 21 – this is 63% higher than the last quarter and nearly a third (32%) higher than the same quarter in 2019, before the pandemic.
• Overall, there were 3,763 evictions by landlords, an increase by over a third (38%) on the previous quarter.

Matt Downie, chief executive of Crisis, said: “More private renters are now facing eviction than before the pandemic. It is simply unacceptable that the UK government is allowing thousands of people to be forced from their homes. 

“While families across the country battle to keep roofs over their heads, government inaction over the spiralling costs of energy, rent and food is causing more and more people to be sucked into this crisis. 

“To prevent unthinkable numbers of people being pushed into homelessness, we urge the government to make good on their pledge to scrap ‘no fault’ Section 21 notices as quickly as possible, as well as unfreezing housing benefit so it covers the true cost of renting.

“More dither and delay will lead to more households being forced into making impossible decisions as their budgets are squeezed to breaking point.”

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