The Mortgage Advice Bureau has reported that housing transactions are taking longer – and that its Appointed Representatives with direct links to estate agents have paused their expansion plans.

MAB says that they are delaying filling vacancies due to reduced confidence.

Reporting on the first six months of this year, MAB said revenue had increased by 5% compared with the same period last year, to £61m.

The rise was driven primarily by a 13% increase in advisers, bringing the total number to 1,293 at the end of June.

The trading update went on: “Against the backdrop of continuing uncertainty we have seen housing transactions taking longer to complete in this financial year to date, impacting the timing of our banked revenue. In the second quarter of the year we have seen some improvement in banked conversion and continue to see these trends in July.”

Current trading is in line with the board’s expectations, MAB reported.

At the end of June, the business had a strong balance sheet with a cash position of over £24m.