Nottingham landlord Mick Roberts has described the court system as "a fallacy" after experiencing significant delays in receiving a possession order. His tenant was ordered to leave by 21 August, but his solicitor was not informed until 4 September, two weeks after the deadline.
Mr Roberts stated that the court made the possession order on 7 August, but it was not dated until 27 August. He added that his solicitor did not receive email confirmation until 4 September, well after the tenant's required departure date.
The landlord reported that the entire possession process took six months from when he first instructed his solicitor in March. This situation occurs as court backlogs continue to be an issue.
Ministry of Justice data indicates that 91,093 landlord possession claims were issued in 2025, a decrease from 98,766 the previous year. However, this reduction in claims has not led to faster resolutions, with landlords reportedly facing some of the longest court waiting times in over 20 years.
According to Landlord Action, the median time from a possession claim being issued to repossession reached 27 weeks in 2025, up from 25 weeks a year earlier. Excluding pandemic-related delays, this represents the longest wait in more than two decades.