The figure is the highest since 1999.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said the number of properties taken into possession in the first six months of the year was 18,900, up 41% from 13,400 in the second half of 2007 and representing 0.16% of all loans.

The figure represents a 48% increase from 12,800 in the same period last year.

However the figure was still well below the peak of 38,900 in the first half of 1991.

The number of households with mortgages in arrears for three months or more rose by nearly a third on a year ago to 155,600 in the first half of this year, the CML said.

Analysts have said that more and more homeowners may face difficulty in the coming months as they have to refinance fixed rate mortgage deals taken on a few years back before the credit crunch forced lenders to toughen up their terms.

The CML is maintaining its forecast of 45,000 total possessions and 170,000 mortgages in arrears of more than three months by the end of the year.

However it argued these numbers remain extremely small when seen in the context of the 11.74 million mortgages in the UK.