There were fewer mortgage approvals in November according to data released by the Bank of England. It was the lowest level of approvals for home purchases since June 2013. There were 59,029 approvals at a value of £9.6 billion.

It may be that consumers were more invested in buying and spending in preparation for the holiday than shopping for houses. Consumer credit increased by £1.3 billion in November which was the largest increase since February 2008. Credit card lending increased by £269 million which is also an increase over previous months.

There is expected to be a boost to the housing market due to the overhaul of the stamp duty tier payment schedule. Economists insist the stamp duty change will give a pick-up to the market as well.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said ““We do expect some pick up in housing market activity in 2015 from the current lows, although we expect the increase in activity to be relatively limited thereby keeping a lid on house prices increases.

“Specifically, on the assumption that there will be some pick-up in housing market activity during 2015 from current lows, we expect house prices to rise by a solid but unspectacular 5% this year.”

Remortgage and mortgage lending have been in a lull through the last quarter of 2014. With the start of the new year, warnings of lenders escaping their competitive environment and pulling their lowest interest rates, it is expected that demand will increase in the first three months in the year.