Mortgage lending up 50%

There were 51 per cent more mortgages lent for house purchase last month than in the same month last year.

New figures from the Major British Banking Groups show that gross mortgage lending in November was among the highest on record.

"Gross lending on mortgages reached a very high level in November confirming the recovery in the housing market after a relatively weaker early part of the year. Approvals, particularly for house purchase, continued to be strong with little evidence of the normal seasonal slowdown," said David Dooks, director of statistics with the British Bankers' Association.

Overall there were 192,927 mortgage approvals in November, with a total worth of £19.1 billion. The average mortgage approval for house purchase increased to £130,800.

There were 17 per cent more people remortgaging, with the total value of these loans up 34 per cent.

There was also a small increase in the number of equity release mortgages, with one per cent more people taking this option in November compared with 12 months ago, although the total value of money released was the same.

Economists described the numbers as "very healthy" and positive news for the property market.

"Robust overall mortgage lending and approvals data indicate that housing market activity continued its recent firmer performance in November," said Howard Archer, chief UK economist at the Global Insight consultancy.

"Activity is benefiting from August's interest rate cut, increasing confidence in the housing market and still rising employment. This is likely to put a floor under house prices, but we remain highly doubtful that house prices will move substantially higher on a sustained basis any time soon."

Industry consensus points to an increase in house prices of around three per cent next year.

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