The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) maintained the base rate at 5.75%.

Several institutions were disappointed at the Bank of England’s decision to keep rates level, as a slight reduction would have been a welcome breather to consumers.

Peter Bolton King, National Association of Estate Agents’s (NAEA) chief executive, said: “I would have hoped that the Bank of England would have considered this month’s rate movement carefully as confidence in the market needs to be restored and a relaxation of interest rates would do just this.

“The last 12 months has been an extremely busy period for the housing market and consumers are crying out for reassurance. Many housing market reports including the NAEA survey, clearly indicate that the housing market is slowing down on a monthly basis and agents have expressed concern on the reduced activity.

“The market needs a period of stability and the Bank of England should feel confident enough to loosen up the rates. This would serve as an ultimate enhancer to restore confidence in what is currently a fragile market.”