Mortgage approvals fell for a seventh month in December to the lowest level since the 1990s, Bank of England data showed, signalling that the UK housing market has already slowed more sharply than during the 2005 downturn.

The Bank said on Wednesday that mortgage approvals for house purchase fell from 81,000 in November to 73,000 in December, much lower than expected and the weakest since the middle of 1995.