There was a slight rise of 1.2% in the number of homes changing hands in February, compared with February 2012, according to new figures from the land registry office Kadaster.

Month-on-month the rise was 26%. In January housing sales had plunged over 60% following the introduction of new, tougher rules for mortgages.

There was also a drop of 25% in the number of forced sales in February, the Kadaster said.