By Charlotte Beugge

Any doubts that the UK housing market is in dire straits will be dispelled by official figures just out from HM Revenue & Customs.

It says that last year, sales of homes in the UK were 11% lower than in 2010 at 869,000 compared with 880,000. This is roughly half the level of homes sold before the banking crisis took hold in late 2007.

The lowest year for house sales was 2009, when 848,000 homes were sold, the fewest since modern records began in 1978. In 2006, nearly 1.7 million homes were sold and in 2007, it was just over 1.6 million.

A combination of a poor economic climate, few homes being built and a lack of availability of mortgages for borrowers has caused the stagnant market. The Council of Mortgage Lenders says that this year, lending will fall again which points to sales falling too.

However, even though it's not as easy as it used to be to get a mortgage if you're a first-time buyer, it's not impossible - and you don't have to pay rates of interest that are much higher than other borrowers.

HSBC has a 3.84% discount rate with no fees on a 90% loan-to-value (LTV), and Leek United Building Society has a three-year fixed-rate of 3.99% with a £995 fee again on 90% LTV.