A sharp rise in the number of mortgage repossessions occurred during the first half of this year after a lowest ever level last year.

The numbers of repossessions and cases of mortgage arrears both rose in the first half of this year, but both remain at extremely low levels by historical standards, according to new results published today by the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The number of properties taken into possession rose from 3,070 in the second half of last year (the lowest figure on record) to 4,640 in the first half of this year

Rising repossessions were most often caused by the five successive interest rate hikes since late 2003, the CML added.

Repossession occurred in 0.04% of all mortgages, compared to 0.03% last year. Put another way, the half-yearly repossession rate was around 1 in 2,500 mortgages, compared with around 1 in 250 when repossession rates peaked in the second half of 1991.

The number of mortgages more than 12 months in arrear was 12,380, up from 11,210 in the second half of last year and 11,480 in the first half of 2004. This equates to 0.11% of all mortgages, compared with 0.10% throughout last year.

Peter Williams, CML deputy director general, commented, "It now seems clear that the second half of 2004 marked the trough in the number of mortgage arrears and possessions. Arrears and possessions now look set to rise a little, but only to the sort of levels experienced in the past few years. A re-run of the early 1990s is certainly not on the cards."