Transactions last month fell almost 8% on January, and nearly 14% on February last year.

The figures come from haart, based on its own statistics.

While it reports that average house prices went up on an annual basis by 2.6%, it says they were down 1.4% on the month to stand at an average of £232,942.

It estimates that across England and Wales there were 40,033 house sales – measured at exchange – in February, down 7.8% on January and 13.8% on February 2016.

Haart also reports that the number of landlords registering to buy has risen by 1% in England and Wales and by 23% in London, measured monthly.

However, the figures are still down by 52% and 61% year on year.