Approvals for house purchase mortgages tumbled for the fourth month in a row in October, according to the British Bankers’ Association.

New mortgage approvals hit a 17-month low of 37,076 in October and are down by nearly a quarter from January’s 76-month high of 48,649. They were also down 16% year-on-year.

Remortgaging approvals were down 21% and for equity withdrawal down 34%.

The total number of mortgage approvals in October was 61,097, down 2.9% from 62,900 in September.

Separately, Nationwide, in reporting its results yesterday, said that it has experienced a fall in mortgage lending in the past six months.

Chief executive Graham Beale said: “The housing market is cooling off relative to where we were at the start of the year.”