British mortgage approvals for house purchase fell for a fifth straight month in November to hit their lowest level in almost three years.
Bank of England data showed mortgage approvals fell slightly more than expected to 83,000 from an upwardly revised 89,000 in October.
That was the lowest since January 2005 and not far from the series low of 77,000 hit in November 2004.
Continued weakness in the housing market may encourage speculation the Bank of England will follow December's interest rate cut with another next week. Reaction was muted, however, with markets paying more attention to a stronger-than-expected services survey released at the same time.
Mortgage lending growth remained subdued but was above forecasts at £7.78 billion, having hit a two-year low in October at £7.66 billion.