Mortgage and landlord possession statistics for April to June 2026 published

Mortgage possession actions across England and Wales fell in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the same period a year earlier, according to Ministry of Justice statistics published on 19 August 2026¹. Landlord possession claims rose over the same period, while landlord warrants and repossessions fell¹.

Mortgage possession claims fell from 6,539 to 5,232, a drop of 20 per cent. Orders fell from 4,421 to 3,651 (17 per cent), warrants from 3,804 to 3,101 (18 per cent) and repossessions by county court bailiffs from 1,166 to 1,008 (14 per cent)¹. The publication says this shows early signs of decreases but that it is not yet known whether the trend will continue¹.

Landlord possession claims rose from 22,352 to 23,635, up 6 per cent, while orders remained stable. Warrants fell from 10,349 to 9,715 (6 per cent) and repossessions from 6,767 to 6,560 (3 per cent)¹. Within landlord claims, accelerated claims were up 16 per cent and private landlord claims up 5 per cent, while social landlord claims were down 3 per cent. Of all landlord claims, 32 per cent (7,449) were social landlord claims, 32 per cent (7,617) private landlord claims and 36 per cent (8,569) accelerated claims¹.

Timeliness moved in opposite directions for the two tenures. The median time from mortgage claim to repossession rose to 49.1 weeks, from 42.9 weeks a year earlier, and claim to warrant rose to 39.4 weeks from 34.0 weeks. Claim to order fell to 7.7 weeks from 8.4 weeks, and warrant to repossession rose to 10.1 weeks from 9.6 weeks¹. For landlord cases, the median time from claim to repossession fell to 27.1 weeks from 27.9 weeks¹.

The Ministry of Justice said the rise in mortgage timeliness was the longest since the fourth quarter of 2023¹:

The publication also notes that the Renters Right Act came into force on 1 May 2026, so the quarter covers two months of activity after its implementation. It says it is not clear whether the fall in landlord possession claims or changes in other claim types can be attributed to the Act, and that trends will be monitored over the next quarters¹.

Why it matters for households

The figures cover England and Wales and count court actions, not the number of households in arrears. A mortgage possession claim is the first formal stage of the process, and the fall in claims, orders, warrants and repossessions means fewer cases reached each stage in April to June 2026 than in the same months of 2025¹. For anyone in a case already under way, the timing has lengthened: the median mortgage case now takes 49.1 weeks from claim to repossession, 6.3 weeks longer than a year earlier¹. The publication attributes the overall timeliness trend to outright orders, which make up more than two thirds of cases, where the median was 45 weeks, up 5.3 weeks; for suspended orders the median was 120.7 weeks, down 22.4 weeks¹.

On the rental side, more landlord claims were issued but fewer reached warrant and repossession stage, and the median claim to repossession time shortened slightly to 27.1 weeks¹. London accounted for 33 per cent of landlord claims and 31 per cent of landlord orders, and its landlord warrants fell 20 per cent from 3,744 to 2,993¹. The publication also points to the Housing Loss Prevention Advice Service, which advises tenants and homeowners once a written notice asking them to leave is served; it is not means tested but requires evidence of risk of losing the home¹.

What happens next

The Ministry of Justice says it will monitor possession trends closely over the next quarters, including whether the fall in landlord claims is connected to the Renters Right Act¹. It also says its data visualisation tool is affected by technical issues and will be republished as soon as possible, and that boundary code changes for Barnsley and Sheffield will be updated in the figures¹. The next quarterly publication in the series has not been dated in the statistics¹.