The overall mortgage arrears rate has held at a 20-year low for the third quarter of 2016, but the number of home owners with holes in repayments is on the rise.

Data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders recorded 0.84% of mortgages in arrears equivalent to more than 2.5% of the balance of the home loan – the lowest rate for more than two decades.

However, of slightly more concern, the level of arrears of 10% or more rose slightly from 0.25% to 0.26% amounting to 24,000 cases. This was attributed to the timing of banks taking repossession action in the courts.

The overall repossession rate remained the same in the third quarter as the second quarter, at 0.02%, representing 1,900 mortgages, of which 1,300 were owner-occupier and 600 buy-to-let.

Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said: “The latest arrears and repossession data still paint a reassuring picture of a market in which financial difficulties are relatively rare, and repossession rarer still. However, there is no denying that economic uncertainty for households is increasing.

“Mortgage lenders are fully committed to ensuring that any home owner who faces temporary financial difficulty gets help, as far as reasonably possible, to resolve it and to remain in their home. This will continue, whatever the economic climate.

“But the rise in the more serious arrears category perhaps suggests that we should not be entirely surprised if the number of mortgage repossessions rises a little in future reporting periods.”