President Bush will announce plans today to protect 1.8 million Americans from losing their homes when their mortgage repayments start to soar.

Washington has been trying to urge America’s biggest mortgage lenders to freeze a slew of adjustable-rate mortgages that are scheduled to increase sharply next year.

It is feared that a significant number of homeowners who took out these adjustable-rate loans may not be able to keep pace with the rise in monthly repayments and will lose their homes.

Congressional sources who declined to be named said that Mr Bush would detail the plans this afternoon.

The proposals are expected to outline which lenders have agreed to participate, for how long adjustable rates will be frozen and which borrowers will qualify.

Some Washington sources have claimed that the President’s plans will freeze mortgage rates for those loans that were taken out between January 1, 2005, and the end of July 2007. Many of the mortgages are scheduled to reset over the next 2½ years. The plans have been spearheaded by Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, who is concerned about the financial outlook for Wall Street lenders next year.

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