The specialist lender’s broker sentiment poll also revealed that 23% of the 118 respondents felt that the average price would increase by up to 2%.

Meanwhile, 58% felt that house price growth in 2018 would be 2% or greater.

More than one in 10 brokers (12%) believed that the average house price would fall this year, while 6% expected no change.

Noel Meredith, executive director at United Trust Bank (pictured above), felt that the residential housing market was likely to remain relatively subdued this year, but there would be bright spots, such as Yorkshire and the North West.

“The fact remains that we have a housing shortage and we’re still not building new homes as quickly as we need them.

“However, this on its own may not be enough to continue to drive house price inflation.”

Noel added that initiatives such as Help to Buy were providing considerable support to the market.

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“The market as a whole is becoming increasingly price sensitive with values rising and falling depending on the location and type of housing sought.

“For housebuilders, therefore, it is vitally important to consider the fundamentals of planning a successful development; that they are building the right homes in the right places and can sell them for the right prices.”

Looking to the future, Noel said that United Trust Bank remained optimistic about the UK residential property market and the role SME housebuilders and developers could play in contributing to the UK’s housing needs.

“We’re investing in new people to grow our development finance team and this is enabling us to offer our services to housebuilders in more parts of the country than we have ever done before.

“Where housebuilders can find opportunities to create successful new housing developments and show they have the skills to deliver a quality, sought-after product, UTB will be pleased to provide the funding.”