Both landlord and mortgage lender repossessions have been falling.

There were 5,010 mortgage possession claims in the county courts across England and Wales between July and September.

The figure is just under half the number issued in the same quarter last year.

Between July and September, there were 3,447 orders for possession; 6,252 warrants of possession; and 1,419 repossessions by county court bailiffs.

The figures are, respectively, down 52%, 38% and 49% on the third quarter of last year.

Repossession claims by both social and private landlords were also down by 5% from the same quarter last year.

Altogether, there were 38,662 landlord possession claims, the majority of which (61%) were social landlord claims.

There were 29,197 orders for possession and 19,963 warrants of possession, down 6% and 1% respectively.

However, repossessions by county court bailiffs were slightly up, by 1%, to stand at 11,267.

The rise in the number of actual repossessions by bailiffs is thought to be a reflection of previous claims working their way through the system.

The average number of weeks between the initial claim and repossession by bailiffs stood at 41 weeks in the third quarter of this year.

Despite the third quarter fall in repossessions of landlords, Shelter pointed out that the total number of repossessions in the private rented sector in the year to September rose 14% to stand at 22,531 households. The body called for action on homelessness.

The figures are from the Ministry of Justice.