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Soaring numbers of borrowers struggling amid the credit crunch sent home repossessions to the highest level for 12 years in the first half of 2008, figures revealed today.

Lenders repossessed 18,900 homes after their owners failed to keep up with mortgage repayments, up 48% on the same period last year, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.

And the CML warned the figure is set to reach 45,000 by the end of the year.

The home repossessions in the first six months of the year -equivalent to 0.16% of all mortgages - compares with 12,800 in the first six months of 2007 and 13,400 in the second half of last year.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) fired a warning shot to lenders earlier this week after finding that specialist mortgage firms were "too ready" to take court action against borrowers.

Housing charity Shelter said today's figures were "shocking" and that hard-pressed homeowners were also now only given state help after nine months - too late to prevent many from losing their homes, it claimed.

The Government steps in to help those who have lost their income by helping with the interest payments on home loans, but has delayed the time limit so that it kicks in after nine months, rather than six months previously.

Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson said: "Behind these figures are thousands of families facing sleepless nights worrying about how to make their next mortgage payment, and many thousands more will be waking up to the frightening reality of repossession.

"Government urgently needs to step in to prevent thousands more families from losing their homes and provide the significant financial support troubled homeowners need to keep a roof over their head."

The CML said the rate of repossession, at 0.16%, was still low in the context of the entire mortgage market and less than half that experienced amid the housing market crash of the early 1990s.

The figures also reveal that the number of mortgages three months or more in arrears has risen by 29% year-on-year to 155,600 at the end of the first half.

This is equivalent to 1.33% of all home loans, although the number of mortgages more than six months in arrears was 0.58% of all loans.

The Legal Services Commission (LSC) announced greater support for hard-pressed homeowners in the wake of the CML figures.

It said it was extending emergency legal aid schemes for people facing repossession to 20 more county courts, with others to follow.

LSC, which runs the legal aid system, funds emergency schemes so anyone in danger of eviction or having property repossessed can get free legal advice and representation on the day of the hearing, regardless of their financial circumstances.

Housing minister Caroline Flint said the measure would "make a real difference in ensuring that repossession is only ever used as a last resort".

"Whilst the rate of repossessions is not on the same scale as the early 90s, we want to ensure that the right support is in place for those who might need it now because of global economic pressures," she said.

The CML recently set out plans to minimise the number of people who have their homes repossessed as the figures rise following the credit crunch.

It said members had committed to four measures to help borrowers, including reviewing its own policies and a pre-action protocol to ensure that repossession is a last resort.

However, the findings of an FSA review earlier this week found that specialist mortgage lenders were too quick to take borrowers to court and were focusing their efforts too strongly on recovering arrears.

The FSA is also considering referring several firms to enforcement action after uncovering irresponsible lending practices among lenders, particularly those in the sub-prime market, such as failure to check borrower income.

Howard Archer, chief economist at Global Insight, said the CML figures showed borrowers were increasingly struggling, but added that the Bank of England was unlikely to be able to offer relief soon in the form of lower interest rates.

Yesterday the Bank voted to keep rates on hold for the fourth month in a row, at 5%, and are not expected to trim the cost of borrowing until at least towards the end of the year.

"Current elevated inflation levels and risks mean that the Bank of England is unlikely to provide any help to financially stretched individuals by cutting interest rates any time soon," said Mr Archer.

"Indeed, there is still a genuine possibility that the Bank of England could even raise interest rates, which would be an alarming prospect for a number of households."

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said the weakening economy and higher level of unemployment would also see repossession rates rise.

While it confirmed that the figures were still low historically, RICS called on the Government to help ease the burden on embattled homebuyers and the housing market.

Simon Rubinsohn, RICS chief economist, said: "The relatively low level of repossession activity does not justify complacency on the housing market.

"To help breathe fresh life into both the residential market and the economy, we believe there is a strong case for a stamp duty holiday allied to more fundamental reform of the planning process to enable housebuilders to respond more rapidly when demand for new stock re-emerges."