Ministry of Justice written question – answered at on 17 November 2025.
Darren Paffey
Labour, Southampton Itchen
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce court delays in relation to hearings for possession orders for anti-social behaviour.
Sarah Sackman
The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice
The Ministry of Justice does not currently collect or publish data broken down by the specific grounds used in possession claims, such as anti-social behaviour.
The Civil Procedure Rules stipulate that possession claims should be listed within 4 to 8 weeks. The most recent published statistics, covering the period April to June 2025 show that the median time from claim to order is 7.9 weeks, consistent with the same period in 2024. The timeliness of subsequent enforcement of an order, where this is required, can be influenced by the actions of users as well as the court. Less than 25% of possession claims require progression to enforcement.
The Renters’ Rights Act 2025 which has recently received Royal Assent, will shorten the notice period for the existing mandatory anti-social behaviour eviction ground. As soon as landlords have served their notice for eviction to the tenant for anti-social behaviour using this ground, they can begin possession proceedings through the court immediately.
The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly data on possession claims at: Mortgage and landlord possession statistics: April to June 2025 - GOV.UK.
Yes1 person thinks so
No2 people think not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
