DOZENS of Herefordshire homes have been repossessed by court order over the last five years.

Figures from the Ministry of Justice show county court bailiffs repossessed 50 mortgaged properties since October 2014.

Mortgage lenders can take possession of a property through a county court as a last resort to recover money owed.

But because many cases do not make it to court, the number of repossessions could be much higher.

Since 2014, lenders have lodged 222 court claims for properties in Herefordshire.

These led to judges granting 89 orders for people to leave their homes by a certain date, but these decisions can be appealed or later rescinded.

There was also 62 suspended possession orders letting homeowners stay, as long as they catch up with funds owed, and 201 warrants to evict people in breach of previous orders.

Across England and Wales, bailiffs repossessed 25,068 mortgaged properties over the five-year period.

There were 1,205 repossessions between July and September this year – up 29% on the same period in 2018.

Trade association UK Finance said the increase was partly driven by a backlog of older cases being processed.

Fewer homeowners and landlords are now in arrears with their mortgage compared to a year ago, the figures show.

“Lenders continue to show flexibility to borrowers in financial difficulty and possession is always a last resort,” UK Finance’s report into the latest statistics said.

It continued: “The proportion of homeowner mortgages in arrears remains at historically low levels, with the vast majority of borrowers continuing to repay their mortgages in full and on time each month.”