Drop in number of private landlord-led repos

Data from the Ministry of Justice shows that in 2014 country court bailiff-led repossessions of properties across England and Wales rose to 41,965, an 11 per cent rise on 2013 and the largest one-year figure since records began in 2000.

But the number of so-called possession claims' initiated by landlords has actually fallen to 161,257 in 2014, a five per cent drop from the previous year. Most of those were in fact social landlord possession claims - 62 per cent - while just 13 per cent were from private landlords and 25 per cent were so-called accelerated claims, which is when a landlord only claims possession of a home but not the rent owed.

Commenting on the figures, National Landlords Association chief executive Richard Lambert says they show repossession is always a last resort for landlords.

He says a landlord will always aim for good, stable, long-term tenancies, and that repossession just doesn't make good business sense.

Repossessions mean additional costs for landlords in the form of court costs, loss of rent, letting agents' charges and local empty property charges. That is why only seven per cent of tenancies are ended by the landlord he says.