Demand for homes in the UK dropped by 4.3% in November, the largest drop since January 2009, according to Hometrack Ltd. Add to this the fact that the average price of a property decreased to £155,000, a fall of 0.8% from October, and you’ll see that the UK housing market really is in an unhappy state.

Where there are losers, there have to be winners and the housing market is no exception.

The latest data from the British Bankers Association, released on Tuesday, showed a slight increase in net mortgage lending last month compared to September. However the forecast for the housing market continues to deteriorate as the amount of mortgages approved dropped again to a 19 month low.

Estimates say that mortgage fraud costs the UK around £1 billion every year and that figure is rising. So who pays the cost and how are lenders and consumers affected?

For the ninth consecutive month, rents increased across almost all areas of England and Wales in October; only Yorkshire and the Humber witnessed decreases, according to LSL Property Services.

More and more people have come to the realisation that the Bank of England will put up the base rate and interest rates will start to rise.

The latest poll of analysts carried out by Reuters does not bring cheer to anyone with an interest in the housing market.

Eight influential housing and legal organisations have warned the Chancellor of the dire consequences for house buyers and the building industry as a whole if the new mortgage regulation proposals put forward by the FSA are implemented. The coalition of organisations includes the House Builders Federation, the Law Society and the National Housing Federation.

At the beginning of the week, Persimmon, one of the largest house building groups, blamed the lack of mortgage finance for the housing market remaining sluggish throughout the autumn. First time buyers have been the worst affected by this mortgage drought, the company said.

Homeowners who are desperate to sell are facing an uphill battle, a new report by Rightmove warns.

If you have your contractor mortgage with the Yorkshire Building Society you will be interested to know that Britain’s second largest Building Society is considering giving free unemployment protection to all its mortgage holders.

Low interest rates have meant that the number of UK repossessions fell for the fourth consecutive quarter, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.