The Council of Mortgage Lenders has reported that lending for the month of October has fallen 9 per cent from last year, to 12.4 billion pounds. Figures that low have not been seen since the year 2000, indicating the housing market in the UK remains subdued.

The head of lending at the Mortgage Advice Bureau, Brian Murphy, commented on the performance of the market for this time of year, saying: "In a normally functioning market you would expect to see an uplift in overall activity between September and October following a plateau in the summer months. But this isn't a normally functioning market.

"Borrowers are nervous, even more so since the spending review and confirmation of some half-a-million public sector job losses. This fear for their personal circumstances has contributed towards the drop-off in mortgage applications."

The CML’s Peter Charles discussed the difference in today’s market compared to the 1990's, saying: "There is a lower level of mortgage arrears and possessions, reflecting the significantly lower incidence of job losses and, in particular, the marked difference in the path of interest rates.

"Inflation is expected to remain below the Bank of England's 2% target rate through 2012 and 2013, and with interest rates rising only slowly and little change in the level of unemployment (as the expansion of private sector employment offsets public sector job cuts), the implication is that mortgage arrears will remain well below previous peak levels."

Renters will read these figures with disdain, as they are seeing their monthly costs skyrocket.

Figures also recently released show that tenant arrears dropped in October, and rental costs rose for the ninth straight month. LSL Property Services also reported that unpaid rent dropped a little more than eight million pounds, to 221 million pounds.