A total of 5,400 homes were repossessed in the second quarter of this year.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the figure represents 0.05% of all loans.

The figure is down from 6,400 repossessions in the first quarter of this year, and compares with 7,600 in the second quarter of last year.

In the first half of this year, altogether 11,800 homes were repossessed – the lowest since the second half of 2006.

The total figure of 5,400 includes 1,300 buy-to-let properties.

The CML also reports that the number of mortgages in arrears is at its lowest since the first quarter of 2008. There are 131,400 mortgages currently (as at end of June) in arrears of 2.5% or more.