Mortgage approvals for house purchase hit a three-month low during March, prompting claims that the Stamp Duty exemption for first-time buyers is yet to provide a “noticeable boost”.

Bank of England data shows there were 62,914 mortgage approvals for house purchase in March, down from 63,781 during February and below the six-month average of 64,544.

It also takes approvals for house purchase below the six month high of 67,018 that was reached in January.

Analyst Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, suggested bad weather may be to blame for the slump and suggested the Stamp Duty exemption for first-time buyers had yet to make a difference.

He said: “At 62,914 in March, mortgage approvals for house purchases were not only at a 2018-low but were also at the second lowest level, after December 2017, since August 2016.  They were also 22.7% below their long-term (1993-2018) average of 81,404.

“It is possible that mortgage approvals for house purchases in March were affected by the severe weather. Even allowing for this, the underlying performance over the first quarter points to the housing market remaining weak.

“It has been pressurised by limited consumer purchasing power, fragile confidence and likely further gradual Bank of England interest rate rises. There seems little evidence that cutting of Stamp Duty for first-time buyers in November’s Budget has yet provided a noticeable boost to housing market activity.”