Having trouble covering your monthly mortgage payments? You are not alone.

Millions of Britons are struggling to meet their mortgage or rent commitments, and many of them are resorting to extreme measures to keep on top of their payments.

In fact, more than one million cash-strapped householders have used credit cards to pay their mortgage or rent in the last 12 months, according to research from homelessness charity Shelter.

But anyone having to use their plastic to keep a roof over their head is almost certainly teetering on the brink of even bigger problems.

And the sky-high interest rates charged by most credit card companies mean they are going to end up paying way over the odds to cover their mortgage or rent – especially if they are unable to pay the debt off within a short time.

Millions of homeowners with variable rate mortgages have seen their monthly payments fall by hundreds of pounds over the last year or so thanks to the low level of the Bank of England base rate.

But the strain of trying to keep up with the payments is still proving too much for many consumers.

And it is not just lower income families who are being forced to turn to their plastic to cover their mortgage or rent payments.

While the highest proportion of people who admitted taking this course of action to Shelter’s YouGov researchers were from working class professions, 4% of upper/middle class professionals also said they had resorted to their credit cards at some point over the last 12 months.

When struggling to meet debt repayments, it is vital to prioritise mortgage or rent payments as missing these could result in losing your home.

Keeping up with electricity and gas bills is also important as failing to do so could result in you being cut off. Not a nice thought given the recent cold snap.

But turning to your credit card is a high-risk, not to mention hugely expensive, way of keeping your head above water.

Shelter is warning anyone who is taking this approach that failing to keep up with their credit card repayments could also result in them losing their homes and potentially ending up on the streets.

This is because credit card companies can acquire possession orders that require customers to sell up to pay off their debt if they are otherwise unable to meet their repayments.

Kay Boycott, director of policy and campaigns at Shelter said: "It is shocking that over a million households in Britain are in such desperate circumstances that they need to borrow money on credit cards to pay for basic housing costs.

"But if people are already struggling to the extent that they fear losing their home, increasing credit card debt cannot be the answer.”

A much more sensible step for anyone in this position is to contact a qualified debt adviser as soon as possible to find out how best to get back on top of their finances.

Boycott added: “It is absolutely vital that every single person using credit cards in this way seeks advice urgently to get the help they need to ensure they don't lose their home.”

If you are struggling with your mortgage or rent payments – even if you are yet to have to resort to a credit card to meet you commitments – the time for action is NOW.

There are professional debt advisers who can help to solve your problems TODAY, completely FREE OF CHARGE. They range from charities like the the Debt Advice Foundation and CCCS to commercial debt companies like Payplan and Debt Free Direct.