The number of properties repossessed by mortgage lenders in the UK has risen by 48% in the first half of 2008 compared to the same period in 2007.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said there were 18,900 repossessions in the six months to June, up from 12,800 in the same period last year.

The sharp rise was due to the economic slowdown making it harder for some homeowners to repay mortgages.

Repossessions have been rising since the second half of 2004 but have now begun to accelerate.

The number of mortgage holders behind with their payments has also gone up.

They rose by 29%, up from 120,800 in the first half of 2007 to 155,600 in the first half of this year.

The latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show no surprises in terms of the number of mortgage arrears and possessions cases in the first half of 2008. While both have increased from their low base as expected, the overwhelming majority of the UK's borrowers continue to pay their mortgages in full every month, and will continue to do so.

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. These numbers remain extremely small when seen in the context of the 11.74 million mortgages in the UK.

The CML numbers relate only to first mortgages, not to other consumer loans secured on people's homes.

The possession rate - that is, the proportion of all mortgages on which possession occurred in the period - was 0.16% in the first half of the year, up from 0.11% in both the first and second halves of 2007. The possession rate now is similar to that of the late 1990s, but remains less than half the rate experienced in the early 1990s.

By number, there were 18,900 cases where lenders took possession of property in the first half of the year. This compares with 13,400 in the second half of 2007, and 12,800 in the first half of 2007.

On arrears, the total number of households with arrears of three months or more was 155,600 at the end of the first half of the year, up from 129,600 at the end of 2007 and 120,800 at the end of the first half of last year. The arrears rate stood at 1.33% of all mortgages, up from 1.10% at the end of 2007 and 1.02% at the end of the first half of last year.