The number of new mortgage repossession claims issued in the courts is down by 50% since the credit crunch-inspired introduction of a civil procedure affecting lenders and borrowers.

The mortgage pre-action protocol (MPAP), approved by the Master of the Rolls, was introduced for possession claims in the county courts in November 2008. It spells out what the courts can expect lenders and borrowers to have done before a claim is issued, giving some breathing space to financially pressurised homeowners.

The Ministry of Justice issued the statistics today on mortgage and landlord possession actions in the fourth quarter of 2008. In a statement, it said the period from the introduction of the protocol ‘coincided with a fall of around 50%’ in the daily and weekly numbers of claims.

Repossession claims stood at 26,008 in the last quarter of 2008, 32% lower than in the previous three months.

But it is too early to draw firm conclusions on what the impact of the protocol will be on actual repossessions.

The MoJ's statement added: ‘Mortgage possession orders are typically made (where necessary) around eight weeks after the corresponding claims are issued. For this reason, the impact of the MPAP is yet to have visible effect on the statistics on possession orders made. However, we would expect this to occur during the early months of 2009.

‘At this early stage is not clear to what extent the launch of the MPAP has led to a permanent fall in the numbers of new mortgage possession claims being issued, as opposed to some merely being postponed. This will become clearer as statistics for 2009 are published.’

The number of court orders made by county court judges stood at 29,095 in the final three months of 2008, broadly the same as the previous quarter.