Council of Mortgage Lenders director general Michael Coogan said this week that:

In the wake of the credit crunch, 2008 will be remembered as a very weak year in the housing market. But our forecasts assume some indirect benefits from the Bank of England special liquidity scheme beginning to have an effect in the mortgage market in the later part of the year. Over the next few months, lending volumes will get worse before they get better. The market is still very uncertain, but lenders are working hard to ensure that borrowers coming off fixed rates remain on track, that arrears and repossessions are minimised, and that pricing is as attractive as they can make it in a market where they must manage the demand for lending with caution.

Paul Cowdery, Conveyancing Partner at Clarke & Son LLP, comments:

Our experience is that whilst activity has been quieter than usual, there is still movement in the Basingstoke market, particularly where properties are priced realistically.

However where there are long chains problems can arise as it only takes one party to have difficulties with mortgage finance for the whole chain to fall through.  We have found recently that more clients have considered chain breaking (i.e. selling their own property and going into temporary accommodation before purchasing) as an option.