Although it was reported this morning on BBC News that mortgage lending rose in November 2010, Melanie Bien, director of broker Private Finance, told MSN Money today: "There will be some great buying opportunities in 2011, but the problem will be securing the mortgage finance to do it, as the lending market is likely to tighten further."

This echoes the recent warning from the CML that a critical new era of even tighter lending will be ramped up in the spring.

"From April onwards, lenders will have to repay the funding advanced through official support schemes," a CML spokesman said. "This is likely to limit the availability of credit to support mortgage lending next year and beyond."

However, some commentators feel this is the CML's attempt to take a swipe at the ongoing regulation from City watchdog the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

"If the CML is to be believed, mortgage lending could dry up in 2011 due to a combination of having to pay back government loans, tougher capital adequacy requirements and the FSA's latest set of proposed regulation," said Andrew Montlake. "While, on the whole, I expect gross lending to be similar to 2010, and net lending to almost certainly drop further, I believe this is more of a veiled threat to the FSA and the government with regards to further regulation than anything else."

Nonetheless, Melanie Bien warns that this regulation (known as the Mortgage Market Review), if published in its current form, will make it much tougher to get a mortgage. "Those with credit issues, small deposits, the self-employed who can't prove their income or those who need an interest-only mortgage will find it much more difficult to secure a deal," she said.