Average property prices are in danger of falling. Banks and building societies applied to the courts for 25,869 repossessions in the first quarter of the year, a jump of more than a third! This is the highest level since 1997, report The Department for Constitutional Affairs.

Over the past five years, repossession applications have on average stood at around 17,000 per quarter. However consecutive interest rate rise last year has left a fast-growing number of families struggling to repay their mortgages.

Of the total number of repossession applications in the first quarter, 14,048 were granted by the courts, compared with 11,888 in the last quarter of last year. However not all those orders will actually result in homes being repossessed.