MV/N-018 · Litigation
Twenty-seven weeks, and what it should change about your approach
The most useful statistic in residential property is not the arrears figure. It is how long the court takes.
Ministry of Justice figures for April to June 2026 record a median of 27.1 weeks from a landlord's possession claim to repossession, against 27.9 weeks in the same quarter of 2025. The median from claim to possession order stood at 7.6 weeks.
Claims, orders, warrants and bailiff repossessions all fell against the previous year. The time taken did not meaningfully improve. Fewer cases are moving through a system that remains slow.
What the number should change
If possession is six months away from the date of issue, and issue is itself weeks away because of protocol requirements and the three-month Ground 8 threshold, then the decisive work happens before proceedings, not during them.
That has three consequences. A documented repayment arrangement that actually holds is frequently worth more than an order obtained half a year later. A defective notice does not cost a fortnight; it costs a cycle. And a file that cannot survive a challenge invites an adjournment, which in a system running at this pace is close to a defeat.
Where the time is actually lost
The court's own timetable is only part of it. In our experience the avoidable delay sits earlier: arrears not reconciled, so the figure pleaded is wrong; demands served by a method the tenancy does not permit; protocol enclosures omitted, giving the court a reason to stay the claim; schedules that do not reconcile to the bank statements behind them.
None of these are legal difficulties. They are record-keeping failures, and they are the reason a case that should be straightforward becomes a case that takes a year.
- Reconcile the rent account before anything is served, not after it is challenged.
- Serve by the method the tenancy or statute requires, and retain proof of posting.
- Include the full protocol enclosures. Non-compliance is the most common reason a claim is stayed or costs refused.
- Treat a negotiated and documented repayment plan as a commercial outcome, not a failure to obtain an order.