Mortgage lenders have further tightened their criteria for loans on all new-build flats in the latest sign of growing nervousness about the housing market as new figures showed a “stunning” slump in mortgage lending in the autumn.

Alliance & Leicester has told mortgage brokers it will tighten its loan-to-value on new flats to 70 per cent amid reports of falling prices in many regional cities. Other banks have tightened their lending criteria on new-build flats in recent months but this has applied to buy-to-let investors rather than all residential purchasers.