Gross mortgage lending in the UK dropped to a 10-year low last moth, revealed the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Total lending of £9.1 billion in January was 32 per cent less from the December total of £13.4 billion. On a year-on-year basis last month's mortgage lending posted a 31 per cent decline over a gross lending of £11.5 billion posted in the year-ago period. Lending in January was the worst since February 2000.

The trade association blamed last year's stamp duty holidays for such a devastating start to the year as the same made buyers hurry through their deals to save some money. As per it, a slowdown was very genuine after the sudden rush witnessed in December. CML expects the lending market to catch up in the later part of the year even if at a slower rate.

Meanwhile, boosting recovery hopes an adviser website Unbiased reported last week that it witnessed a rise of nearly 50 per cent in the number of people surfing its site in search for a mortgage broker.

However, some experts feel that market is still plagued with uncertainties and with the election looming large the recovery process may be slower than expected.