The number of mortgage approvals for homes hit nine-month low in February as the housing market kept on showing signs of slow down.

As per figures released by the Bank of England, a total of 47,094 home loans were granted to people for buying a home as compared with 48,099 in January.

The decline in activity has been attributed to bad weather in January and February and the end of Government’s stamp duty holiday.

The Government recently has announced a stamp duty holiday on homes costing up to £250000 for the first-time buyers. The move is expected to boost housing market too as will encourage a large number of first-time buyers to purchase houses.

But tight credit conditions can dampen the efforts. Economist Vicky Redwood from Capital Economics said, “The stamp duty cut will be of limited help when credit conditions remain tight.”

However, net mortgage lending jumped slightly during February to settle at 1.59 billion pounds, the highest figure since December 2008.

Last month, Nationwide Building Society reported a fall of 1 per cent in house prices due to lower activity in the housing market.