The number of homes repossessed shot up by 11,300 in the last three months, figures show.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders statistics were released as a survey found that more than a fifth of homes are being put up for sale because owners cannot meet their repayments.

The National Association of Estate Agents (Naea) believes 5,000 properties a week are affected.

Naea chief executive Peter Bolton King said: "It is those homeowners who were on cheap fixed-rate mortgage deals who cannot replace them and are struggling with the rise in repayments."

More than 27,000 properties have come on to the market in the past week, according to the property search engine Globrix and the Naea survey suggests at least 5,000 of these may be "forced" sales.

The number of househunters has fallen from 211 to 196 a month per agent, according to the Naea but it added the number of first-time buyers is increasing.

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