Court orders allowing landlords to repossess homes jumped 17 per cent in the first quarter of 2008 from a year earlier to 27,530, their highest level since 1993 although still well below the peak seen in 1991.

The jump is a rise of 7 per cent from that recorded in the last quarter of 2007, according to data issued on Friday by the Ministry of Justice and is part of a steadily rising trend since the trough of 2003.