Nearly half a million mortgage or loan customers are having to apply more than four times in order to successfully secure credit, a survey shows today.

July's mortgage lending is at the lowest since 2002

While just over 400,000 could not get a mortgage or loan despite repeated attempts, according to GE Money Home Lending.

The findings follow hard on warnings from the Bank of England and the Council of Mortgage Lenders that homeowners may find it even more difficult to get a mortgage in the coming months.

The survey said that with lenders tightening their lending criteria in the face of the credit crunch, previously credit worthy people being classed as a higher credit risk are struggling to get loans.