The dodgy decisions of bankers residing in fabulous properties in New York, the Hamptons, London and the Home Counties - bought with bonuses earned from trading in toxic mortgage-backed securities or from reckless lending to the financially embarrassed - have made it even trickier for the owners of a terrace in Tooting to get a home loan. That was a summary of the impact of the financial market turmoil of past days on homeowners: Wall Street's woes are proving to be a disturbing presence that will not take a hike from your street.

But, there is one unexpected development of the passing of Lehman Brothers and the revelations about the troubled position of other institutions: there is now less uncertainty than before. Why? Most observers suspected a major name could go under and the current crisis proves these fears were well founded. As Peter Rollings, of Marsh & Parsons, the estate agent, points out: “We need to get some of the dirty laundry out to know where we stand- this is one big pile of dirty laundry”. The linen basket contains not only Lehman's collapse but the sale of sickly Merrill Lynch to the Bank of America, the Federal Reserve's rescue of the ailing insurer AIG, and the beleaguered state of HBOS, the owner of Halifax, which has been forced to find a saviour in the shape of Lloyds TSB.

Mr Rollings believes this headline-hitting sequence of events should finally persuade vendors who did not believe the value of their properties had fallen to think again, cut their prices and so attract buyers.

Only peerless properties remain unscathed in the slowdown: anyone still convinced their frankly average home belongs in this class should be aware that the Lehman/Merrill/AIG/HBOS affair has deepened the distrust between banks.

A few fixed and tracker mortgage deals were becoming cheaper, as some banks tentatively started to compete for business. But now the trend of rates is forecast to be upward, although one commentator argues there could be a base rate cut before Christmas.

Despite their own dirty laundry, lenders will be even more insistent that prospective borrowers have squeaky-clean credit histories and always come clean about every aspect of their purchase. Suddenly, a new piece of paperwork - the incentive disclosure form that forces the declaration of any sweeteners - is becoming popular.

If, say, a construction company pays the £9,000 stamp duty on a £300,000 new-build terrace, then the bank will deduct this sum from the mortgage. Previously, in their indulgent phase, banks turned a blind eye to such bribes. But in their new sanctimonious guise, they are looking for every way to reduce their risk.

Any borrower frustrated by the new checks being made on any mortgage application might be tempted to suggest to the bank that, if it had shown a little more such prudence in the past, much of the current misery might have been avoided. But, just now, such humour is unlikely to be appreciated.

Crunch these numbers

A distinct lack of drama may be one reason why there is usually so little publicity over the house price index produced by Communities and Local Government (CLG). The figures can also seem lacking in immediacy: the latest index relates to the performance of the housing market in the quarter to July - a period when prices fell by an average of 0.5 per cent.

As we said, stop-you-in-your-tracks numbers are not this index's style, but that should not mean that it should be viewed as irrelevant. The figures are based on completions, not the asking prices used by other organisations that can give a skewed image of the market's state, overstating growth in good times and overstating decline in bad times. The CLG index is also compiled from data collected from 60 lenders - rather than just one.

If nothing else, the figures are a guide to government policy. The average first-time-buyer price in the latest index is shown as £160,414. This is conveniently below the £175,000 stamp duty holiday limit set by the Chancellor, although any first-time buyer in London and the South East would be hard-pressed to find a home at this price, whatever the impact of the falls shown in other indices.

The new Swiss Family Robinson

What's the place you call home? For the inhabitants of this dwelling, it will be the ultimate treehouse, cultivated through aeroponics - the science of growing plants in air or a mist environment without soil. Scientists say they could be producing these eco-conscious residences within ten years. Could this be the solution to adult children who will not leave the parental home: accommodate them on the allotment?

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