The number of new mortgages approved by lenders fell to the lowest so far last month as buyers are discouraged by concern over house prices and the unavailability of loans.

The British Banker's Association (BBA) disclosed that just 21,118 loans had been made by its members during June, 66% lower than the same month last year and down from the 27,499 made in May. The figures are the lowest seen in the 11 years the BBA has been recording data.

Regarding the results, the BBA's statistics director, David Dooks, said: "Another record low number of mortgages approved by the banks for house purchases means that the whole market is likely to be at its least active since the early 1990s. However, even in this rapidly slowing market, net lending has still grown by 12% over the past year and there continue to be significant numbers of people remortgaging with the banks."