LONDON (Reuters) - Lenders have agreed to wait three months before starting repossession proceedings against homeowners who have fallen into arrears on their mortgages, Chancellor Alistair Darling announced on Monday.

In his pre-budget report, Darling also unveiled the creation of a new Lending Panel to improve monitoring of lending to households and businesses.

The panel would provide help through mortgage rescue and Support for Mortgage Interest schemes to eligible homeowners in difficulty.

The measures come just days after figures showed lenders took possession of 11,300 homes in the third quarter, up from 10,100 in the second, despite government efforts to make home repossessions a last resort.

The Council of Mortgage lenders said on Friday that the number of people struggling to make mortgage payments has also risen.

At the end of September, 1.44 percent of mortgages were at least three months in arrears compared with 1.33 percent at the end of June -- equivalent to 168,000 households.

"Looking ahead, conditions in the wider economy suggest a worsening picture for mortgage arrears, however carefully lenders handle their treatment of borrowers in difficulty," said CML director general Michael Coogan.

The CML is sticking with its forecast that 45,000 homes will be repossessed by the end of the year.

(London newsroom. stephenaddison.reuters.com@reuters.net)