UK housing market home sales currently remain at a level which is weak for this time of year. In addition to the April tax hike which is affecting more landlords, the vote in June to leave the EU has created a climate of uncertainty putting the brakes on many decisions to buy. Although mortgage lending is rising, home owners are taking advantage of lower interest rates and choosing to remortgage rather than move home.

Home purchase figures for the summer are well below the number which took place last summer. Slightly fewer than 49,000 homes were bought in the month of June which is 5,000 less than this time last year, according to the British Bankers’ Association.

Remortgage activity is starting to percolate once more after dipping with the results of the referendum in June. Lenders remain hungry for more customers and are offering deals with low interest rates and below average administration fees to complete the process.

Samuel Tombs of Pantheon Economics commented on the latest housing data, saying: “The sharp decline in surveys of house price expectations and profit warnings from estate agents since the vote signals that mortgage demand has fallen further in recent weeks.

“Meanwhile, little scope remains for mortgage rates to decline further and so revive demand. Although the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee likely will cut interest rates next week, probably to 0.25pc from 0.50pc currently, banks likely will increase lending spreads to account for the higher risk of borrower default, due to the much weaker economic outlook.”