The number of people whose homes were repossessed surged by a third during the first half of the year - with an average of 77 properties being lost every day.

The rate is now at its highest for eight years, with interest rate rises leaving many homeowners struggling to meet mortgage repayments.

Banks and building societies seized 14,000 properties - a 30 per cent increase on the same period a year ago.

advertisementThe figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders last week came as separate data showed personal insolvency levels had fallen. However, financial experts warned that people were merely shifting their debt from credit cards onto their properties.

Louise Brittain, head of personal insolvency at accountancy firm Baker Tilly, said the figures did not reflect the three interest rate rises this year. "That's when we'll have a disaster on our hands," she said.

Credit card debt has been slowly falling for the last 18 months as consumers have paid off a glut of cheap loans that the banks were willing to offer between 2000 and 2005.

However, David Stubbs, a senior economist at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, said: "With the housing market slowing into 2008 and interest rates expected to hit six per cent, homeowners slipping behind with their repayments may be left stranded, unable to sell their way out of trouble."

Most economists predict the Bank of England will raise rates from 5.75 per cent to six per cent in September or October in an effort to curb inflation.

This would mean that a homeowner on a £200,000 variable rate mortgage would have to find an extra £3,000 at the end of the year - far in excess of most wages increases.

Pat Boyden, a partner at the accountancy firm Price Waterhouse Coopers, said: "For someone already in big trouble, finding just another £60 a month can be enough to tip them over the edge. "

Repossessions are still well below the levels of 1991, when 76,000 properties were repossessed, at a rate of 208 a day.

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