The lowest ever five-year fixed rate mortgage deal was launched by HSBC as competition between lenders for new business intensifies.

The Council of Mortgage Lending report shows house purchases have declined 16%, a greater amount than expected due to the election.

The government’s Help to Buy scheme finishes at the end of 2016 and should be replaced to ensure competition in the housing market.

Annual house prices in the UK have slowed from 6.8% to 5.7% in February for the first time in five months decreasing by 0.1% during the month.

New data from the English Housing Survey shows the number of outright homeowners is greater than those buying with a mortgage.

With interest rates remaining low lenders are lowering fixed rate mortgages even for homebuyers with only small deposits.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) have released data showing the number of homeowners losing their house is down 26% in the last year.

Over the three months to January house prices were 1.9% higher than the previous period across the UK despite uncertainty over the election.

Bank of England data shows a rise in the number of mortgage approvals to 60,275 as lenders bring back low cost mortgages.

Data from the Council of Mortgage Lending shows mortgage lending has reached a six-year high although lending has now slowed.

The number of first time buyers is 22% up and a seven year high, says the Halifax and helped by high loan to value mortgages.

The Council for Mortgage Lending (CML) has released new figures showing mortgage lending has reduced over the last four months.