Landlord possession claims fell in the first quarter of 2026, suggesting the courts did not see the surge many expected before Section 21 disappeared. But the latest figures also show delays remain stubbornly long.
Landlord claims fell 5 percent in Q1
New Ministry of Justice statistics show landlord possession claims in England and Wales dropped from 23,964 to 22,733 in January to March 2026 compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Possession orders fell 10 percent to 16,848, warrants fell 7 percent to 10,172 and repossessions by county court bailiffs slipped 6 percent to 6,888.
That does not fit the simple version of the Section 21 story. There was heavy political and industry talk about a last-minute rush before no-fault eviction ended, but the court data did not show a spike in formal claims during the quarter.
For landlords, the more important point is that lower claim volumes have not fixed the system’s speed problem. The median time from claim to landlord repossession rose to 26.4 weeks. Mortgage repossession timings worsened more sharply, which suggests the wider court pipeline is still under strain.
Why the figures may understate landlord pressure
The data does not prove the pressure has gone away. It may simply mean some of the pre-deadline activity had not yet worked through to claim stage in time for the Q1 snapshot. That is consistent with what landlords were reporting in April, when many were still trying to get paperwork, notices and legal advice in place before the regime changed.
Landlord Action has argued there is a lag between serving notice and a case appearing in the official figures. That makes the next two quarterly releases more important than this one for judging whether the old Section 21 pipeline really emptied before the new system bedded in.
This follows Landlord Knowledge’s report on the Section 21 rush before the deadline, which found landlords were front-loading possession instructions ahead of the legal switch. The Q1 figures suggest that surge did not translate into an obvious jump in court claims straight away, but the backlog risk has not gone anywhere.
Wales is the outlier landlords should notice
The Ministry of Justice said landlord possession claims fell across every region except Wales, where they increased. That matters because national averages can hide local trouble spots. Landlords with stock in Wales should watch whether that rise proves temporary or becomes part of a wider pattern.
Elsewhere, the bigger issue remains time. Even where claims are lower, waiting more than six months from claim to repossession is still a serious drag on cash flow, arrears management and reletting plans. Combined with the end of Section 21, that leaves landlords even more dependent on clean evidence and accurate compliance records.
The full quarterly release is available from the Ministry of Justice possession statistics bulletin.
Landlords now need to read these numbers alongside compliance pressures rather than as a standalone court story. If claim volumes stay modest but timeliness keeps slipping, the practical effect is the same: problem cases remain slow and expensive to resolve.
What this means for landlords
- If you may need possession: assume the court route will still be slow and get evidence in order early.
- Watch for: Q2 and Q3 2026 data, which should show more clearly whether pre-deadline Section 21 cases are still feeding through.
- Bottom line: fewer claims do not mean an easier system – delays are still long enough to hurt landlords badly.
Editor’s view
These figures are less reassuring than they first look. A falling claims count sounds positive, but for landlords the real story is still time, and the courts are not moving fast enough to make the post-Section 21 world feel workable.
Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 26 May 2026
Sources: Ministry of Justice, Landlord Action
Related reading: Court delays leave landlords waiting 32.5 weeks
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