In April’s Monetary Policy Committee Minutes, the bank said: “After several months of growth, loan approvals for house purchase [fell] by around 10% in February.”

On an annual basis, house prices continue to rise an average of 1% driven on by price growth in London but the average of the lenders’ house price indices had fallen by 0.2% in March, it said.

March lending nudged up 4% in February, but Council of Mortgage Lenders Q1 figures show lending 10% down on the last three months of 2013.

In April, the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to hold rates at 0.5% and QE at £375bn.

Rob Wood, chief UK Economist, Berenberg Bank, said: “The economy appears to be booming right now, which, in our view, is likely to mean further tightening in the labour market and easing downward pressure on wages and inflation next year.

“We expect at least one of the rate setters to be voting for a rate hike by late summer, perhaps following August Inflation Report.

“On the mortgage side, evidence from the Bank’s Credit Conditions Survey suggests availability of high LTV mortgages are likely to increase over the coming months, although some lenders reportedly have a ‘limited appetite’ for such lending.”