Homebuyers have come virtually unscathed through the series of interest rate increases starting this time last year, yesterday's Bank of England Inflation Report showed.

The number of bankruptcies has risen very sharply, as have calls to the National Debtline, but these involved credit card and other unsecured borrowing, not mortgages.

The number of homes repossessed by mortgage lenders remained low throughout the first half of this year, while the number of mortgages in arrears did increase, but remained " low by historical standards".

The number of applications for repossession by mortgage lenders had risen during the past year, but the report suggested that it is unlikely that all of these will lead to actual repossessions.

But the picture is very different for unsecured lending.

The Bank's governor, Mervyn King, said that the number of petitions for bankruptcy is now running at a rate of 60,000 a year, more than in the recession of the early 1990s.

But this time the big increase was in petitions filed voluntarily by people who owed money, not their creditors.

In view of this, the report says: "The rise may not accurately indicate the degree to which the overall level of financial distress has increased".

Credit card write-offs by banks and other card issuers rose by 13 per cent in the first three months of this year.

"Unsecured debt has caused the problem not mortgages," Mr King stressed. "It affects a relatively small number of low-income households. It has not had a dramatic effect on the economy."