Mortgage approvals crashed 10% in March as cash-strapped consumers lost faith in the housing market, according to figures from the high street banks.
The total number of mortgage approvals for house purchases fell to 37,567 last month, down from 38,035 in February and 10% lower than in the same month last year, UK Finance, the industry body, said.
Gross mortgage lending was also 2.3% down on last year at £20.5bn.
The FT adds that figures follow the Bank of England’s November interest rate increase – the first for a decade – and a fall in London house prices for the first time since 2009 in the year to February.
