Data from the Ministry of Justice suggest that incidents of landlord possessions have fallen at all stages, for the eighth quarter in a row.

In the first quarter of this year landlord possession claims totalled 35,188 – this is down eight per cent on the same quarter of 2016.

Orders of possession totalled 26,009 – that’s down 10 per cent on the previous year.

Meanwhile warrants of possession dropped nine per cent to 17,936 andf repossessions by county court bailiffs totalled 9,370 – a 15 per cent drop. 

The MoJ says these falls continue the annual downward trend, seen since April to June 2014. 

The ministry says landlord possession claims are highly concentrated in London, with different boroughs occupying nine of the 10 highest rates. Barking and Dagenham was the highest with 496 per 100,000 households. 

Looking at the five years to the end of March 2017, MoJ data shows that 63 per cent of landlord possession claims (some 22,012 in all) were social landlord claims; 22 per cent (7,716) were accelerated claims; and 16 per cent (5,460) were private landlord claims.