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These are the two factors most often blamed by industry experts and regular punters on the streets for the stagnant housing market and lender's plummeting profits.

This view is hardly surprising given the front page stories about our nation's major lenders scrambling for cash from rights issues and tales of individuals unable to find a deal as competitively priced as their last one - despite the Bank of England reducing the base rate.

The only tales you hear are of woe - but is this doom and gloom view fact or fiction?

What is a fact is as we race towards the end of 2008 the crisis of confidence in the economic climate has left homeowners confused and concerned about switching lenders when they remortgage and those wanting to climb on the property ladder are certain lenders do not want their business.

Research by Cheltenham & Gloucester called into question increasingly entrenched beliefs that nobody wants their business among the nation's borrowers and those who want to stop renting and own their own abode.

The lender surveyed homeowners due to remortgage within the next year and found the worry of not getting a new mortgage will prevent a substantial number of them from shopping around as they are convinced they will not find anything better.

One in three, 37 per cent, said they will not even approach other lenders for fear of being rejected.

Of this figure, four out of 10 believed they had no option but to convert onto their lender's standard variable rate and three out of 10 of all remortgagers said they would prefer to knowingly pay a higher rate with their current lender than face being turned down by other lenders.

Top of the list of concerns for remortgagers was the perceived scarcity of deals, at 44 per cent.

Almost four out of 10, 38 per cent, worried they would not be able to afford their new mortgage rate while 27 per cent do not want to tie themselves into a new deal now when they believe rates will eventually drop.

Also, some 15 per cent do not understand how lenders decide whether someone is eligible for a new mortgage.

Nobody could argue the mortgage market of 2008 is as sunny as it was in 2007, but you do have to wonder if consumers, some lenders and advisers have moved beyond the stage of denial into such a dim and dark view of the industry they are consumed by fear and hurting themselves.

Fear of their application being rejected, the belief they will have no choice of deals and a lack of understanding of how lenders look at eligibility are unquestionably hitting borrowers and potential first-time buyers in the pocket.

Cheltenham & Gloucester observed while there was no denying there were fewer deals available the perception of the market is now worse than the reality of it is.

The average remortgager owns more than half of the equity in their property and for the majority of people there is still plenty of choice.

Perhaps it is time more lenders bang on the drum about what is available and are more vocal about who they want to do business with because clearly at the moment most people are convinced lenders have turned their backs on them.