The good news is that repossessions have plummeted since the bad old days of 1991, when 75,540 properties were seized by lenders, throwing around 250,000 people out of their homes. Indeed, partly thanks to the latest property boom, lenders grabbed a mere 6,030 homes in 2004 and just 10,250 in 2005. However, even the most optimistic property bulls are expecting repossessions to rise this year and next, perhaps by an extra 2,000+ cases per year.

So, what causes someone to lose the roof over their head? The simple answer is that they fail to keep up their mortgage repayments and, once they are a certain number of months in arrears, their mortgage lender begins recovery action against them. So, the big question is: what causes borrowers to go into arrears in the first place? Here's what a recent report reveals

*includes fraud, technical disputes and willful non-payment.