The number of landlord possession claims which lead to a court order being issued has increased to 25,422 during Q2 2012, a rise on the previous quarter and continuing the upward trend started in 2010 according to the Government’s quarterly Court statistics.

Landlord possession claims leading to orders made in England and Wales increased 8% with the following recording high particularly high rises:

Gloucestershire, up by 29% (big increases particularly in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud)
West Sussex 20%
Hampshire 29%
Individual areas: Bournemouth 30%
Outer London 12%, but Croydon up by 28%

Michael Portman, Managing Director of LetRisks, commented: “We have seen a sharp increase in demand for rent guarantee insurance as landlords and agents look to find ways to protect their rental income. It is clear that this problem is not going to go away and we expect tenant arrears cases to continue climbing during the remainder of this year.

“Many tenants have fallen on bad times and have no financial resources to clear arrears debt which has led many agents and landlords to pursue possession only, foregoing any attempts to secure rent arrears through the courts.

“For many Landlords and agents, they face better odds securing new tenant rental income than they do securing rent arrears from an existing tenant.”