A higher number of families than before are falling into debt, new analysis from debt analysis and management firm, TDX suggests.

The firm said that there had been an increase in homeowners looking to take out an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) - a type of debt repayment plan, commonly used as an alternative to bankruptcy - between January and May 2008.

The pressure on household budgets exerted recently by rising food and fuel costs, as well as the increasing mortgage repayments seen due to the ongoing credit crunch, are thought to have contributed to this trend.

According to TDX, there had been a 32.3 per cent increase in the numbers of IVAs taken out with banks over the five months. This included a 47 per cent rise occurring during the last month of the survey, which signifies that the number of people falling into debt continues to accelerate.

Mark Onyett, TDX's chief executive, said: "The rising cost of living is fuelling strong growth in the IVA market. We anticipate that the number of new IVAs opened in England and Wales will continue to increase in 2008."

He added: "However, the rising cost of living is not the only reason for this growth. More expensive mortgages help explain why more homeowners are taking out IVAs."