Many mortgage borrowers are not in the position to move into a new property, it has been said.

Of the estimated ten million mortgages holders in the UK, Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at John Charcol, believes 3.5 million of them are unable to move house.

"There are some people who are going to be denied the opportunity to move for quite some time unless perhaps they are prepared to go and rent," he suggested.

Most people are unable to get mortgages for more than 90 per cent loan-to-value, Mr Boulger said, which would require them to put at least a 15 per cent equity deposit down on a new home.

According to a press release published by the CML on August 11th, there are further signs of stabilisation in the mortgage market, but transactions are still weak on a historic basis.

There were 45,000 house purchase loans in June, worth £5.9 billion, up 23 per cent from 36,500 loans in May.

However, this is less than half the average number of loans in June over the last seven years.