Failure to complete. No, it's not just another syndrome devised to describe the condition of those who cannot make the final commitment in a relationship, but the next expected development in the buy-to-let sector - where over-commitment of the financial rather than emotional variety is the problem.

On Monday, after the nationalisation of Bradford & Bingley, which was, not so long ago, the major lender to amateur landlords, the death of buy-to-let was widely pronounced. This is clearly not the case: many investors in rental properties are not struggling, as some have no borrowings whatsoever. The arrears and repossessions figures illustrate this, despite what some overwrought commentators may claim.

However, tricky times do lie ahead for those already cash-strapped buy-to-let investors approaching the end of cheap fixed-rate loan deals. The further deterioration of trust between bankers (currently a commitment-phobic group for whom relationship counselling might be a good idea) has resulted in yet another decrease in available offers. This worsening of the home-loan drought will have a particularly severe impact on those individuals who had been planning to become buy-to-let investors, the people who 18 months ago paid deposits of 5 per cent or more on flats then under construction who may now fail to complete on the finished dwellings.

Back in the boom days, these would-be landlords calculated they would easily be granted 80 per cent plus loan-to-value (LTV) mortgages and that rent could cover their repayments. Now they would be lucky to be given a 70 per cent offer - which would be based on a reduced value for the property. Meanwhile rents are also declining.

Struggling housebuilders are unlikely to sympathise with such customers who will almost certainly lose their deposits if they cannot afford to complete. This may not be the end of their pain, as they could be sued by the housebuilder for the possibly substantial difference between the original sale price and the amount raised from its swift disposal. The possibility that court action could be the penalty for failure to complete may encourage some of these conflicted would-be landlords to scrape together the cash to proceed. They should brace themselves for the tough competition in the market, where an oversupply of properties in some areas is meaning more voids (periods without tenants). When tenants go hunting for their perfect apartment match, looks count now more than ever. For the new rules in this dating game.

Quality sells quantity

What's not selling now? The answer includes: blighted properties, anything afflicted by airline noise, or close to landfill sites, pylons or railway lines and new-build houses in the Home Counties, formerly favoured by City bankers. This list, compiled by Savills, the estate agents, also highlights gloomy basement flats, unpopular among purchasers who are already miserable enough thanks to the crisis caused by the bankers' bonus-boosting excesses.

What's selling now is harder to categorise, although Anne Currell, of Currellamp, a North London agent, sums up the typical buyer: “He/she works in safe-ish sectors such as the law and medicine, has a 20 per cent deposit and has been either waiting to get on to the ladder or is trading up. He/she also knows the place to approach for a mortgage now is a bank with which you already have a relationship, as a saver, say.”

There has, as yet, been no research into the jobs held by the people who are buying apartments at One Osnaburgh Street, a 20-storey block, close to the peace of Regent's Park, the buzz of Bloomsbury and the urban grit of King's Cross. But it seems that this location rocks, as only 12 apartments in the block remain for sale; buyers have exchanged on 40 and another 10 are reserved. Bricks and Mortar first reported on the project when marketing began just three months ago.

The apartments, which range in price from £335,000 to £5 million, will certainly be high-end. But the sales suggest that quality names provide the reassurance at the moment: Terry Farrell is the architect of the curvilinear block, due to be finished in Juneamp, and British Land its developer. Proximity to transport is another plus. In a downturn it pays to be punctual at the office - even if you are the boss.

Our homes are priceless

Nationwide's latest research shows that the average house price is 12.4 per cent lower than a year ago. At that time, the bank base rate was 5.75 per cent; today it stands at 5 per cent, but could be cut next week. Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist, notes that it could fall to as low as 3.5 per cent by the end of 2009. Not so long ago, this would have produced lower mortgage rates, but the old certainties have disappeared - for the time being at least. One thing is sure, though. All these gloomy numbers do not seem to lessen anyone's affection for the place they call home.

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