The total amount of mortgages advanced in December fell by 6% compared with the previous month, according to lenders.

The £11bn advanced in December was also 18% lower than the same month a year earlier, when some buyers were beating the end of the stamp duty holiday.

The data, issued by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), is the latest evidence of dampened demand from buyers at the end of 2010.

The CML added that some home loans had been increasing in cost recently.