GROSS mortgage lending increased by 12 per cent overall in 2016.

It reached £20.4 billion in December – four per cent lower than in November, but four per cent higher than in December 2015 according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Gross mortgage lending for the fourth quarter of 2016 was an estimated £62 billion. This is a three per cent decrease on the third quarter and closely matches the £61.8 billion lent in the fourth quarter of 2015.

CML senior economist Mohammad Jamei said: “The UK housing market, much like the wider UK economy, ended 2016 on a generally positive note. Approvals for house purchase have recovered strongly of late, and this should feed through to lending figures in the early months of 2017.

“The current availability of mortgage credit is benign, and the real issue continues to be a dearth of properties on the market, which adds to the challenges facing would-be buyers. Uncertainty associated with political factors and prospective changes to the tax treatment of landlords will weigh on prospects for the year ahead.”