Low wage growth among workers in the UK could have a negative impact on the housing market, according to a new report.

VocaLink, a payments service which says it processes over 90 per cent of UK salaries, said that the growth rate of take home pay has continued to fall in recent months, with wage growth in the services sector falling by 1.6 per cent between February and August this year.

Growth for those in manufacturing saw a sharp drop from 4.5 per cent in July to four per cent in August, with a spokesperson for the firm commenting that as people spend a large proportion of their take home pay on mortgage payments, "this will further squeeze consumer''s spending power".

Douglas McWilliams, chief executive of cebr, the firm which carried out the analysis on behalf of VocaLink, predicted: "It is likely that mortgage and loan rates will increase and lending conditions will become stricter."

Earlier this week, the Trades Union Congress claimed that the price of the average home in the UK had increased four times faster than the average rate of pay, making it more difficult for workers to get a foot on the property ladder.