Having achieved a record high of 154 in November, confidence slipped to 150 as the countdown to Christmas commenced, and increased spending placed a strain on household budgets.

Confidence in the country’s current financial situation also dropped 7 points, resulting in an overall negative sentiment of -37 points.

However, sentiment towards the UK housing market remained stable in December, with year-end figures reflecting a slight rise from an overall negative sentiment of -12 percentage points in January.

Sentiment towards inflation also continues to steadily improve, moving from a mid-2014 overall negative position of -17 percentage points July 2014 to -7 percentage points in December. This rise is consistent with the decline of official rates of inflation.

“The end of 2014 saw Christmas spending impacting the overall index with a slight fall in consumer confidence.,” Greg Coughlan, Lloyds’ director of personal current accounts said, “however, we may see confidence bounce back to growth in January…much of the report still shows an improved position.”