Mortgage lending to people buying a home dived by 49% during January following the end of the Government's stamp duty holiday, the latest figures showed.

Only 32,000 loans, worth £4.7 billion, were advanced during the month, around half the level seen during December, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said.

The group said the figures ''emphatically demonstrated'' the impact on the mortgage market of the end of the Government's stamp duty holiday.

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The drop was even more pronounced among first-time buyers, with the number of mortgages advanced to people taking their first step on to the property ladder dropping by 54% to 11,300 between December and January.