Cash is king when it comes to house purchases as the market for mortgages becomes harder and harder to access.

There has been a huge rise in the proportion of homebuyers paying for their new homes in cash.

According to figures compiled by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) in January 2011, nearly 40% of buyers did not need a loan to buy their home - with cash buyers more than doubled since 2005, when the records began.

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Robert Bartlett, the Chief Executive of Chesterton Humberts estate agency, told the BBC that the number of cash deals being done in the housing market is historically high.

"In some areas of London, it can be up to 80%," he added, noting that the people driving this trend are "typically the Saga generation" who are downsizing and pocketing a profit from previous housing booms.

Meanwhile, other cash buyers are investing in property because they see it as one of the few investments that they can make money from and use at the same time.

(BMcC/GK)