Transaction numbers continue to decline, surveyors have said.
The number of housing transactions has fallen to an all time low, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors' (Rics) latest housing market survey.
Transactions per surveyor hit 12.7 percent over the last three months, which is the lowest figure since the survey began. A lack of liquidity available for loans is thought to be behind the trend, with surveyors in some regions reporting less than one sale per week.
Instructions to sell also decreased as the number of per surveyor also fell: 28 percent reported a fall rather than a rise in these instructions last month, compared to 27 percent in July.
Rics spokesperson, Jeremy Leaf, blamed the gloomy findings on the continuing restrictions on credit among lenders. He said: "While money is scarce, many will continue to be denied the next step on the property ladder.
"In the absence of much transactional activity many home owners are being forced to rent their properties while they wait for lending criteria to be loosened and demand to pick up."
Rics' report is the latest downbeat study in to the UK housing market. The most recent house price surveys from Nationwide and Halifax have both found that value has eroded across the country by more than ten percent over the past 12 months.
