The Bank of England has reported that in July mortgage approvals slumped to an 18-month low in July following uncertainly after the EU referendum.

The central bank announced that there July saw 60,912 approvals compared to 64,152 in June, which represented the lowest monthly total since January 2015.

Richard Pike, sales and marketing director of Phoebus, said: “The rise in remortgaging shows that existing homeowners seem to have been positively affected by the cut in base rate last month and the fact that mortgage rates are at an all-time low. The same cannot be said for home buyers.

“A number of potential house buyers seem to have been put off buying in July; what remains to be seen is whether this is in fact the ‘Brexit effect’ or a normal seasonal downturn that will pick up in September.

“I expect there to be a further drop off in August’s figures so we will need to wait until the Autumn to see if this is a pause for breath or the start of a more serious downturn.”