The amount of residential mortgage funds lent has risen by over 10% in the past year, according to new research.
The amount approved for residential mortgages in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015 was £59.3 billion, up from £47.2 billion in Q1 and an 11% increase over the year.
The Bank of England (BoE) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released this data yesterday.
In total, 15.1% more was lent in Q2 this year than Q1.
The study also found that there were 200,273 house purchases in Q2 and a further 68,764 in July.
The amount of money lent for buy-to-let purposes also rose annually, up from £7 billion in Q2 2014 to £8.3 billion in Q2 this year.
Overall, the amount of residential loan money outstanding was £1.272 billion in Q2, up 0.8% on Q1 and a 1.8% yearly increase.
The proportion of funds lent at fixed rates grew from 77.6% in Q1 to 78.9% in Q2. The average interest rate on this money was down from 2.99% in Q1 to 2.83% in Q2 – the lowest rate since the BoE/FCA records began in 2007.
The value of residential loans approved for first time buyers rose over the quarter, from £8.9 billion in Q1 to £10.8 billion in Q2.
However, this is slightly down on the amount lent to first time buyers in Q2 2014, when it totalled £11.4 billion.