In his budget, Mr Brown drew a link between boom and bust in the UK housing market and the wider economy.

Britain now has the highest rate of homeownership amongst the major world economies - nearly 70% of households are owner occupied.

However, nearly two-thirds of mortgages are variable rate or fixed for only a short period at the start of the contract.

As a result, when interest rates rise people can find themselves in financial difficulty which can have a detrimental effect on consumer demand.

Chancellor Gordon Brown has frozen the stamp duty on houses and commercial properties, but cracked down on non-payment. Read about Stamp Duty changes

The Chancellor would like to see more long term fixed rate mortgages being taken out thereby moving homeownership out of a boom-bust cycle.

David Miles, professor of Imperial College has been asked to review the UK mortgage market to see how a greater proportion of fixed rate mortgages can be achieved.

As for the current crop of homebuyers, they face having Stamp Duty thresholds frozen for the tax year 2003-04.

The starting rate for Stamp Duty on residential property is �60,000, unless the property is located in designated Stamp Duty free area.

The Consumers' Association welcomed the review.

Sheila McKechnie, director of the Consumers' Association, said: "The Consumers' Association welcomes this major review of the housing market in the UK and looks forward to contributing to it.