At a time when many house owners are caught up between selling and buying houses, only to discover that borrowing is tougher than for many years, Caxtons Chartered Surveyors – one of the country’s leading and oldest firms – offers some commonsense advice.

Duncan Reeves, an associate director at Caxtons’ Canterbury office, says: "If you are one of those lucky homeowners who has found a buyer despite the current economic and property sector climate but find that the property you hoped to buy has been withdrawn or the buying chain has broken down, probably because of the credit crunch, the message is: don’t panic. Do not give up your sale. Rent a property until you find something else that you want.

"Renting can give you a breathing space. If tenants undertake a six-month tenancy they won’t be left with a lot of rent to pay when they find somewhere they want to buy. Better to rent for a while and sit tight to see what happens than to let the sale of a property fall though after months of negotiation, and possibly months of trying to find a buyer."

Stephen Gallagher, a manager in the company’s Medway office adds that anyone who has been a property owner for a long time and who sees renting as a backward step in their lives, should realise that the standards of property are much higher now than in the past.

"Good quality properties are available in today’s market, and some are very impressive executive homes. Renting provides options; it gives you the chance to reduce your outgoings if you want to save, or to go for something slightly more prestigious."

He adds that the present climate for property owners is not all bad: there are some winners. "If for example you want to sell your property, which is worth, say £200,000 and buy somewhere that is worth £500,000, and the market drops by 50 per cent then instead of having to raise £300,000 to buy the new property, you only have to raise £150,000. That’s because when your property is worth half – £100,000, the property you want to buy is now valued at half of its previous value – £250,000. It’s good news for people in that position."