LONDON (Reuters) - Courts in England and Wales issued 35 percent fewer mortgage possession orders in the third quarter of this year compared with a year ago, and company winding-up petitions were down 3 percent, the Ministry of Justice said on Thursday.

There were 17,134 orders for home repossession according to seasonally adjusted data in the July to September period, 9 percent down from the three months to June.

However, 44 percent of the orders were suspended, meaning the total number of actual home repossessions is likely to be lower. That compared with 46 percent that were suspended in the second quarter.

The government introduced guidelines at the end of last year to help people struggling with their mortgage repayments come to an agreement with their creditors and the Ministry of Justice said this was distorting the percentage changes in the seasonally adjusted data.

The Ministry of Justice also said that courts in England and Wales issued 3,101 company winding-up petitions in the third quarter, down 3 percent both on the year and compared with the previous quarter.