Reading County Court: possession claims, orders and bailiff evictions
Reading County Court and Family Court is the court HMCTS lists for housing possession claims from parts of 9 council areas. The Ministry of Justice publishes its figures under the name Reading County Court. Region: South East.
Information, not legal advice. Know Your Let is not a law firm and does not act in court cases. We can help with the notice stage (see pricing); court claims and hearings are for you or a solicitor.
landlord possession claims, Q3 2025 to Q2 2026 (private, accelerated and social landlords); -10.9% on the year before.
repossessions by county court bailiffs in the same period, against 629 warrants issued.
Relative backlog score: rank 86 of 125 courts (1 = most congested). Our estimate from MoJ volumes, not a waiting time.
Reading County Court possession claims: last 8 quarters
Private landlords using the standard (section 8) procedure. These are counts of events at this court each quarter, not one group of cases followed through.
| Quarter | Claims | Orders | Warrants | Bailiff repossessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | 108 | 59 | 36 | 22 |
| Q4 2024 | 98 | 44 | 32 | 28 |
| Q1 2025 | 84 | 82 | 57 | 23 |
| Q2 2025 | 81 | 56 | 36 | 28 |
| Q3 2025 | 72 | 62 | 41 | 18 |
| Q4 2025 | 52 | 50 | 26 | 34 |
| Q1 2026 | 75 | 33 | 18 | 20 |
| Q2 2026 | 66 | 56 | 23 | 14 |
Source: MoJ Mortgage and landlord possession statistics, April to June 2026 (court-level CSV). “—” means no figure was published for that quarter.
Last four quarters by type of claim
| Type | Claims | Orders | Warrants | Repossessions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private landlord – standard (section 8) | 265 | 201 | 108 | 86 |
| Private landlord – accelerated (section 21) | 637 | 458 | 335 | 254 |
| Social landlord | 345 | 271 | 186 | 123 |
Accelerated claims come from section 21 notices served before 1 May 2026. Those claims had to be issued by 31 July 2026 at the latest, so from 2026 Q3 new private-landlord claims here should be section 8 claims only.
How to read the backlog score
- Orders per claim: 0.75 – possession orders made relative to claims issued.
- Warrants per order: 0.68 – how often landlords go on to ask for bailiffs.
- Repossessions per warrant: 0.74 – bailiff evictions carried out relative to warrants issued. A low figure can mean a bailiff queue, but it also falls when tenants leave before the appointment.
The score (0–100) averages this court's percentile on claims growth, on 1 − orders per claim and on 1 − repossessions per warrant, across courts with at least 100 landlord claims a year. MoJ does not publish waiting times for each court, so treat it as a rough comparison.
How long an eviction takes (national figures)
MoJ only publishes timings for England and Wales as a whole. For private landlords' standard possession claims in Q2 2026 the median times from issuing the claim were:
| Stage | Median | Average |
|---|---|---|
| Claim to possession order | 8.0 wks | 11.1 wks |
| Claim to warrant | 13.3 wks | 19.4 wks |
| Warrant to repossession | 8.7 wks | 14.7 wks |
| Claim to repossession | 24.6 wks | 33.6 wks |
Add the notice period before the claim: 4 weeks for rent arrears (Grounds 8, 10, 11), 4 months for selling or moving in (Grounds 1, 1A). Work out your dates with this court selected →
Reading County Court bailiffs: fees and what happens
If the tenant does not leave by the date in the order, you ask this court for a warrant of possession (form N325, or N325A after a suspended order). The court sends you forms EX96 (appointment) and EX97A (risk assessment), which must be returned at least 3 working days before the eviction. The tenant must get at least 14 days' notice of the appointment. More on bailiffs and warrants.
| Court fee (from 13 July 2026) | Amount |
|---|---|
| Possession claim (paper N5 or online PCOL) | £415 |
| Warrant of possession (N325) | £152 |
| Permission to transfer to the High Court (N244, without notice) | £126 |
| Sealing a High Court writ of possession | £82 |
| Tenant's application to suspend a warrant | £16 |
Councils served
HMCTS points possession claims from postcodes in these council areas to Reading County Court and Family Court. Some councils are split between courts, so check your postcode.
- Basingstoke and Deane
- Bracknell Forest
- Hart
- Reading
- South Oxfordshire
- Vale of White Horse
- West Berkshire
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- Wokingham
Small claims waits at this court
If you also need to claim money from a tenant who has left, small claims at Reading took a median of 42.1 wks from issue to hearing in Q2 2026 (the middle court in England and Wales: 37.8 wks). Small claims figures for this court →
Check which court covers your postcode Eviction timeline tool
Related guides
Grounds, notice periods and serving it properly.Possession claim: N5, N119 and PCOL →
Which form, what to attach, the £415 fee.The possession hearing →
What the judge can order and what to bring.All eviction courts →
Compare courts in England.
Sources
- MoJ: Mortgage and landlord possession statistics, April to June 2026
- MoJ: Civil Justice Statistics Quarterly, April to June 2026
- HMCTS: Reading County Court and Family Court (address and contact)
- GOV.UK: Repossessing your privately rented property after 1 May 2026
- GOV.UK: Civil court fees (EX50), updated 13 July 2026
Last checked 28 Sep 2026. Figures and fees change; check the official source before you act.