THERE was a 27 per cent month-on-month increase in mortgage lending in February, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

The council’s figures show that that home buyers borrowed £11.2 billion in March – that’s 61,700 loans.

Although this represented an increase since the previous month it was down by 12 per cent compared to March 2016.

First time buyers borrowed £4.9 billion for homes – up by 29 per cent since February and nine per cent since March 2016. Home-movers borrowed £6.2 billion – up 19 per cent month-on-month but down by 33 per cent year-on-year.

Home owner remortgage activity was up by 13 per cent by value compared to the previous month. Compared to March 2016 it increased 22 per cent by value.

Commenting on the figures, Paul Smee, director general of the CML, said: “Comparing this March to last year is misleading because of the peak in activity in the stamp duty changes last spring. Overall lending trends have remain reasonably consistent.

“The relatively sluggish activity among home-movers stands in contrast to the growth in first-time buyer and mortgage activity, but in aggregate the market is showing broadly the levels of activity we expected. As we head into the summer, we expect a continuation of these trends, with both first-time buyer and remortgage lending expected to maintain momentum in the light of the very attractive deals currently available.”