Mortgage lending dropped in December to a near three-year low as the appetite fell among buyers for expensive properties in London and the south-east.

The Bank of England said new mortgages for house purchases were the weakest since January 2015 at 61,039, down by almost 6%, and remortgaging approvals fell by 14% to 46,475.

The house purchase figures coincided with a report showing sellers in some parts of London are discounting their prices by as much as 10% to secure a sale.