THE number of people who face losing their homes has almost doubled in York.

Fresh figures show that courts imposed 27 home repossession orders against people in the city between January and March 2005, compared to 16 for the same period a year earlier.

This paved the way for mortgage lenders - banks, building societies and private firms - permission to seize property.

In the first three months of 2005, 32 repossession orders were suspended - where a home owner is given time to pay off debts and keep up with mortgage payments.

This was against 26 a year earlier. The number of possession actions launched by mortgage lenders also jumped from 70 to 86.

The statistics, published by the Department for Constitutional Affairs, have prompted a warning that back-to-back interest rate rises were beginning to bite. The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee increased interest rates five times between November 2003 and August last year.

Rate rises have aimed to cool an over-priced housing market - leading to many first-time buyers overstretching themselves to get a foot on the property ladder.

Keith Stevens, an insolvency partner at accountants Wilkins Kennedy, said: "As interest rates rise further and more discounted mortgages come to an end, we have to expect that more borrowers are going to find themselves under water."

Nationally, the number of repossession actions initiated has jumped by 35 per cent. A total of 25,869 mortgage repossession actions were started and 14,048 actual orders granted.

The figures released by the Department of Constitutional Affairs do not reveal the true number of repossessions - even after an order has been made, a person can still settle their debts and save their home.

In Harrogate, repossession orders rose from 12 to 16. And across North Yorkshire they increased from 44 to 59.

Updated: 10:10 Tuesday, May 03, 2005