The property market's near collapse has been underlined by the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

The previous downturn in mortgages agreed was where house buyer numbers fell by 49% from December, after buyers rushed to beat the reintroduction of the old stamp duty thresholds.

Then, there were just 32,000 loans approved for house buyers in January with the number of loans for first-time buyers down by 54% in January to 11,300.

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The CML's figures confirm the picture portrayed by the latest figures on the property market.

In recent weeks the CML said the gross value of all mortgage loans had fallen by 32% from December to January and HM Revenue & Customs reported that the number of completed home sales in the UK had more than halved to 51,000 in January.

In addition, the Bank of England said that the number of home loans approved for house purchases in January, but not yet lent, had fallen by 17% to 48,198 - the lowest for eight months.

(BMcC/GK)