More renters face losing their homes as court claims to remove them gather pace after the height of the pandemic. Social and private landlords lodged 19,033 repossession claims with courts across England and Wales in the three months to March, Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show.
That was nearly triple the 6,376 made in the same period of 2021, although it was still down from 24,320 in early 2020, largely before Covid-19 affected court proceedings. However, the number of claims made by private landlords has now topped pre-pandemic levels, with 6,447 made in the three months to March.
That was well over double the number recorded in the equivalent period the previous year (2,832) and above the same three months of 2020 (5,884) and 2019 (6,265). The 6,520 claims by social landlords – including councils and housing associations – were also more than double the 2,542 logged a year earlier but were still far below pre-pandemic levels.
