The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has released its quarterly data on court actions and orders for possession which shows a very stable picture in Q3 2007 with a small fall in the number of court orders compared to a year ago.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) published its half-yearly data on arrears and possessions, and the next publication will be out on the 8 th February 2008. While MoJ figures report the number of actions entered and orders made, the CML figures are the only regular source of information that relate to actual possessions of properties in the UK.

CML’s half-yearly data reported the number of properties taken into possession in the first six months of 2007 was 14,000. The recent CML housing market forecasts for 2008 estimated the number of repossessions to total 30,000 (0.25% of all mortgages) in 2007, and 45,000 (0.38% of all mortgages) in 2008.

The MoJ figures are usually significantly higher than the CML figures as there are substantial differences in the sets of data. The MoJ figures relate to court activity which may not result in a possession. Lenders may use court proceedings to help ensure that households in arrears have a firm commitment to a payment plan designed to get them back on track. Also, the MoJ figures relate only to England and Wales whereas the CML figures are for the whole of the UK.