Tighten your belts, homeowners - the credit crunch is set to bite.

That is the grim Kent prediction amid claims house sales could fall by at least 40 per cent in the county and UK-wide.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has forecast sales could drop considerably if the credit crunch continues.

And the county will suffer like the rest of the UK despite reputedly having a buoyant economy.

Trevor Hines, head of public policy and communications for RICS South, said: “Kent is going to suffer and will have to weather the storm like everybody else in the south east.

“No one can predict how long it will go on for and how serious it will be but people will have to tighten their belts.

“The second half of 2008 will prove a difficult period for the housing market.”

There was one consolation for first-time buyers. “It’s going to be good news for them providing they can get a mortgage,” Mr Hines added. “Halifax has announced it will reduce mortgage rates and increase the supply of mortgages. That is an example of how one organisation is prepared to weather the storm.”

The RICS Housing Market Survey also showed sales are down 31.7 per cent compared to a year ago.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, however, was keen to play down any fears of a crisis in the housing market saying it was rather a “confidence” crisis. There were still permanent factors, such as rising population and Government housing targets that had to be met by 2026, that strengthened the market.

“People have to remember 40 per cent is an average figure across the whole country.

“Kent, like elsewhere in the country, has quiet areas and others which are not too bad. We have not got a housing market crisis. The underlying factors have not altered. It’s a confidence crisis.”