Santander Mortgages has calculated that almost twice as many attempts by homeowners to sell their property have failed than have succeeded over the past year.

Since June 2009 1.1 million Britons have attempted to sell their house and failed, compared with approximately 725,000 successful property transactions. 755,000 Britons also say they have also attempted to purchase a property without success in the past year.

Failure to find a suitable buyer was cited by 53% of those who had tried to move homes as the biggest barrier. Property prices were another key reason for so many failed transactions, as cited by 18%. The inability to save a sufficient deposit (10%), to get a mortgage deal (4%) or find a suitable home in the right area (17%) were also revealed as key transaction barriers. While 12% people who failed to sell their home said they couldn’t get an acceptable offer.

Phil Cliff, director of mortgages at Santander, said: “There’s no denying that the housing market has slowed down in the last few years – but it’s not all bad. Recently we’ve seen record low interest rates and as a result