The lender said that at the end of October 2012 only 572 (1.36%) of its 42,000 active mortgage accounts were in arrears of three months or more.

The firm’s level of one-month arrears also fell to its lowest level in four years with 896 mortgages in arrears, 2.13% of its total mortgage book. CHL said that the number of mortgages in arrears it currently holds were below its expectations for 2012.

This report follows figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders last week which said repossessions across the mortgage industry had fallen to their lowest level since the financial crisis.

CHL said that quicker turnaround times when dealing with maintenance and lettings work had also contributed to the fall in arrears levels.

Bob Young, managing director at CHL Mortgages, commented: “Even by our own recent standards October has been a particularly positive month for arrears levels on our book with a number of benchmarks beaten.

“The fact we now have a mortgage book which has reached a four and a half year low in terms of arrears is very pleasing as is the fact we have consistently beaten those best case scenario forecasts we made at the start of the year.

“On our one-month arrear levels we have broken through the 1,000 and 900 barrier during the year and, looking ahead, we believe we may just reach the low 800s before the end of 2012.

“Other indicators of the quality of the book are also abundant with examples such as our ability to bring in the highest monthly rent receipt ever during October being one of the stand-out highlights.”