Homeowners who are likely to be most affected by the increase in repossessions will be those who have a mortgage of over £250,000, according to one financial expert.

Operations director of Firstrung Paul Holmes stated that those people who have recently doubled their mortgage are the most vulnerable to repossessions.

His comments follow the release of figures by the Ministry of Justice, which revealed that over the first three months of 2008, repossessions increased by 16 per cent compared to the same period last year.

The "family arena" will be worst-hit by the problem, Mr Holmes warned, with some parents having recently upgraded to bigger houses.

However, he reassured first-time buyers that they should remain relatively safe from the problems.

"First-time buyers who have recently climbed onto the first rung [of the property ladder] are least affected by the problems than any other buyer group," he said.



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