Five per cent of Brits have been pushed off the UK property ladder since last October because of the credit crunch, according to Moneysupermarket.com.

Figures released by the price comparison website show that one in ten people planning to get a mortgage were either unable to or were put off by higher deposits.

However, in the last month alone the number of finance products available to home buyers has fallen by 40 per cent.

Louise Cuming, head of mortgages at moneysupermarket.com, said: "As stringent lending pushes people into the buy-to-let market, the decrease in the number of buy to let mortgages becomes increasingly alarming. I fear we will soon see many people unable to buy or rent - the question is, where do they go from there."

Moneysuperket.com generate revenues of over £100 million in 2006 and over 65 million people visited its website. It currently offers price comparison services in 25 sectors including housing, car finance and holidays.