Mortgage News
Repossession figures down
The latest statistics from the Ministry of Justice have revealed the number of mortgage and landlord possession claims in the County Courts decreased by 7% over the same period last year, with the Mortgage Pre-Action Protocol being singled out as the main cause for the fall.
The 7% drop means just 38,100 warrants for possession were issued in the first quarter of the year, compared with 40,798 in Q1 2008. However, the statistics do show an increase from the last quarter of 2008, which just 36,238 claims.
The encouraging figures have been put down to the introduction of the Mortgage Pre-action Protocol in November last year which gives guidance on what the Courts expect lenders and borrowers to have done prior to a claim being issued.
Karen Jacobs, solicitor at Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP, described the statistics as “very positive” but warned that it was too early to tell weather the protocol had been a success.
She explained: “There is a risk that the introduction of the protocol has merely led to a delay in the number of proceedings being brought whilst the parties comply with the protocol. To truly assess whether the protocol has been a success it will be necessary to keep a close eye on the court statistics in the coming months.”
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