HC Deb 17 July 1946 vol 425 cc1209-10
22. Mr. Sparks

asked the Attorney-General what percentage of decisions have been made in each county court in the Metropolitan Police area for the first six months of 1946 in favour of owners and tenants, respectively, upon applications made for possession of housing accommodation.

The Attorney-General

With the hon. Member's permission, I will circulate the figures in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Hector Hughes

Can my right hon. and learned Friend say how many of these cases were successful appeals by the tenants, and in how many did evictions actually take place?

The Attorney-General

Over the courts in which the position has been examined,

Court. Total Number of Orders made. Orders in favour of Owner. Number of Possession Warrants executed Orders in favour of Tenant.
Number Per cent. Number. Per cent.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Barnet … … 168 143 85.1 9 25 14.9
Bloomsbury … … 226 199 88.1 24 27 11.9
Bow … … 165 133 80.6 26 32 19.4
Brentford … … 258 214 82.9 29 44 17.1
Bromley … … 341 323 94.7 15 18 5.3
Clerkenwell … … 160 139 86.9 21 21 13.1
Croydon … … 334 323 96.7 23 11 3.3
Edmonton … … 230 186 80.9 23 44 19.1
Epsom … … 266 248 93.2 18 18 6.8
Ilford … … 377 360 95.5 12 17 4.5
Kingston … … 247 220 89.1 23 27 10.9
Lambeth … … 200 189 94.5 28 11 5.5
Marylebone … … 33 28 84.8 15 5 15.2
Shoreditch … … 151 129 85.4 32 22 14.6
Southwark … … 10 10 100 2 — —
Uxbridge … … 181 154 85.1 13 27 14.9
Wandsworth … … 202 202 100 23 — —
West London … … 150 118 78.7 18 32 21.3
Westminster … … 42 35 83.3 8 7 16.7
Willesden … … 410 345 83.4 41 64 16.6
Woolwich … … 145 120 82.8 17 25 17.2
Totals … … 4,295 3,818 88.9 420 477 11.1

the average percentage of orders in favour of applicants was 90 per cent., and the average percentage of cases in which warrants were issued and evictions consequently took place was only 10 per cent.

Mr. Hughes

Has my right hon. and learned Friend any figures with regard to appeals about which I asked him?

The Attorney-General

That does not arise out of this Question.

Mr. S. Silverman

Can my right hon. and learned Friend say how the proportion of successful plaintiffs in these courts compares with the average proportion of successful plaintiffs in the country as a whole?

The Attorney-General

We have examined the position in about 20 courts in the Metropolitan area. We have not had an opportunity of taking out the figures for the 400 or so courts in the whole of the country. Moreover, one has to have regard to different housing conditions in different court areas, and I am not quite sure that any proper comparison could be drawn from figures of that kind.

Following are the figures: