Mortgage lending in August 2019 was £24 billion, according to UK Finance.

The trade body for mortgage lenders said this was 3.2 per cent lower than in the same month in 2018.

There were 85,931 mortgages approved by the main high street banks in August 2019. Mortgage approvals for home purchase were 3.2 per cent higher, remortgage approvals were 0.1 per cent higher and approvals for other secured borrowing were 0.4 per cent lower than in the same month a year earlier.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, said: “Buyer demand for mortgage products has been the one area of the market to remain buoyant in the face of political uncertainty, and while it would seem that even this is starting to fall below expectation, we have seen them at least hover at consistent levels for a number of months now.

“While the chances are approval levels will no drop off steadily in the lead up to Christmas, we could see one last rally in October as aspirational buyers take advantage of current rates, in the event that a disorderly exit from the EU results in lenders tightening the purse strings.”

Andrew Montlake, managing director of mortgage broker, Coreco, added: “Mortgage approvals for home purchase in August were down on what was a blockbuster July but still up on a year ago.

“There was the usual seasonal dip in August but three years of unprecedented uncertainty have created a phenomenal amount of pent-up demand.

“In September that demand has once again shown itself, with mortgage enquiries for home purchase picking up again, despite the environment we find ourselves in.”