Two-thirds of estate agents have seen a decrease in buyers and a quarter of mortgage brokers have experienced a drop in business following the Mortgage Market Review, which was implemented a year ago.

Mark Hayward, NAEA managing director, said: “This Sunday is the anniversary of the MMR and we can now really see the substantial effects it has had on the property market.

“The new rules, which introduced stricter guidelines for lenders, has led to 65% of NAEA estate agents reporting a decrease in the number of buyers.

“A drop in the number of buyers is the direct result of a slow-down in acceptance of mortgages, with it now taking an average of 50 days to receive a mortgage offer.

“This increases the risk that sales won’t go through and puts unnecessary pressure on any chain transactions.”

Separate research by Paragon Mortgages showed that out of 200 intermediaries who took part in the survey, 25% said they had experienced a decrease in business, mostly of up to 30%.

Lenders have also reported a sluggish start to this year with lending down by 12% in the first quarter compared with the last quarter of last year, and down 3% on the first three months of last year.

However, mortgage lending did pick up in March, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Confusingly, the Bank of England says that the number of mortgage approvals for house purchase rose “slightly” in the three months to February. However, approvals do not always progress to actual loans.

The Bank also reports that buy-to-let lending accounted for 15% of all residential property mortgages by the end of last year.