DOZENS of claims to repossess Worcester homes were made by landlords and mortgage lenders after the latest lockdown, figures show.

Ministry of Justice figures show 28 claims to repossess homes in Worcester were lodged by mortgage lenders and landlords between July and September this year following the end of the tenant eviction ban.

Of the claims lodged in the three months to September, 23 were made by private and social landlords against renters.

The figures show 12 property repossessions took place in Worcester between July and September.

Of these, 11 were evictions of renters, while one was by a mortgage lender.

In comparison three claims were made over the same period in 2020 and there were 70 recorded in 2019.

Bailiff-enforced evictions were banned for a large part of 2020-21 – a measure introduced by the government to prevent renters from becoming homeless during the pandemic. The ban was lifted in England on May 31.

Nationally claims and repossessions shot up over the summer leading to charity Crisis saying the figures showed that the measures introduced to prevent homelessness during the pandemic were inadequate.

Jon Sparkes, Crisis chief executive, said: "More and more people who lost their jobs and had their lives turned upside down are now being forced into homelessness.

“As more cases make their way through the courts, we sadly expect this to increase further still."

Across England 13,000 repossession claims were submitted to county courts between July and September – a significant increase from 4,065 in the same period last year.

Claims made by landlords accounted for more than three-quarters of the total.

Nationally, there were 5,238 repossessions in the three months to September – 93 per cent of which saw renters evicted from their homes.

A government spokesman said: "These statistics show a considerable decrease in repossessions compared to pre-pandemic levels, with a 64 per cent decrease in landlord claims and a 59 per cent decrease in mortgage claims compared to the same quarter in 2019.

“The action we’ve taken since the start of the pandemic helped keep renters in their homes – over eight million households were protected by the pause in court possession proceedings."