The number of UK homes repossessed during the Spring fell, but households have been warned by lenders to prepare for rate rises.

A total of 5,400 properties were repossessed in the second quarter of the year, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.

This was down 1,000 on the previous three months, and down by 2,200 on the same period a year ago.

The CML said that it would welcome Bank rate rises only in "baby steps".

"Rates will rise at some stage, of course, and borrowers should be planning for that now," said Paul Smee, director general of the CML.

"We welcome the message from the Bank of England that, when it raises rates, it plans to do so in a series of 'baby steps', matched to a careful assessment of the ability of households to deal with higher borrowing costs.

"Any borrower anticipating payment problems should talk to their lender as soon as possible."

Mark Carney, the governor of the Bank of England, said in his quarterly inflation forecast on Wednesday that any rise in interest rates would be gradual.