Homeowners who can't or won't remortgage or come to some other arrangement face a legal battle to keep their homes like that being fought by Brian McDonnell in County Monaghan (see page 7).

The number of High Court repossession summonses brought by lending institutions increased by over 50% last year to 311, from 205 in 2005, according to new figures from the Courts Service.

Unofficial figures compiled by the Sunday Tribune indicate this figure is likely to rise significantly this year, with two lenders, IIB Homeloans and sub-prime mortgage specialist Start, issuing 143 summonses between them in the first three months of this year alone.

Meanwhile, a report sent by Davy Stockbrokers to its clients last week also indicates that the number of defaulting mortgages, which often lead to repossession cases, is starting to increase.

The report analysed data from securitisation vehicles used by three major financial institutions . . . EBS, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank . . . to hedge their mortgage risk.

The report found that default levels "were on a downward trend until the final months of 2006 and have since started to show an upward bias". It concluded that the increase could be due to effect of increased interest rates.

A spokesman for the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS), which assists borrowers in trouble, said the figures spoke for themselves.

"Why are the institutions becoming more proactive and aggressive unless something is starting to go wrong?" he asked.

He said the MABS was concerned that the actions of mortgage lenders were forcing borrowers to remortgage their homes with sub-prime lenders and to try to consolidate their loans, neither of which was a long-term solution to their problems.

"People are being pushed to the pin of their collar.

They want to hold onto their home and so they're being forced into the sub-prime market, " he said.

However, the Irish Banking Federation (IBF) has insisted that its members have not noticed any significant deterioration in their mortgage books.

An IBF spokesman said that, in 2006, its members repossessed fewer than 50 properties in the country.

He denied, however, that some of its members were beginning to adopt a more aggressive approach to repossessions.

"It's a last resort for the banks but going to the courts may well be the only route open to them in their attempts to bring some sort of amicable arrangement to a situation."

One Dublin solicitor who specialises in High Court repossession cases also said the threat of court action often led to a settlement.

"A lot of people adopt an ostrich approach and ignore letters, " said Maurice Lyons.

"But when they are hit with a High Court summons, which is served in person, 99% of them will ring me and try to sort it out."

Lyons, who counts Start and Bank of Ireland among his clients, also said it was important to note that the majority of summonses and even court repossession orders didn't result in repossessions.

"Most people will either sell their home or remortgage it if they don't have the money to make a settlement, " he said.

However, a senior policy researcher for the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC), Paul Joyce, said taking court action in mortgage arrears cases was "equivalent to pouring water on a drowning man".

Joyce said: "For ordinary houses of medium value, there doesn't seem to be any logical reason why the High Court should be the venue.

For people in that situation, the costs mount as you go through the legal process, and the defendant pays for that so while you are trying to find a solution for the problem, your debts increase."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Start mortgages said it was inevitable that a subprime lender would have a small number of customers who were unable to pay their mortgages.

"We work with every customer in arrears once they go over their fourth missed payment. Those whom we do bring to court are not working with us to resolve these problems."

IIB Bank declined to comment on questions submitted to it by the Sunday Tribune.