The BoE statistics revealed that net lending by high street banks increased by £1.5bn from
October. The value of approvals rose from £11.9bn to £12.2bn with both house purchases and remortgaging approvals increasing.

Mortgages approved by building societies in November reached 60,518, their highest level
since March 2008, according to the BSA figures. The value of these approvals amounted to £1.2bn. Gross lending by building societies in November remained at the same level as the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Adrian Coles, director-general of the BSA, said the figures showed that the housing market has
stabilised slightly in recent months, with funding conditions for all lenders beginning to improve.
However, he added: “Although they are improving, funding conditions are still acting as a brake
on lending, as is the relatively small number of properties coming onto the market.”

Darren Cohen, mortgage consultant at LRG, said that while the figures were encouraging, credit
scoring and lending criteria were still constraining people from accessing the housing market.
He said: “Lenders are still cherry-picking their customers. The only people who are able to access the market are those with big deposits or who have a lot of equity in their property.”

The latest Nationwide house price index enhanced  housing market confidence when it revealed that the average house price rose by 0.4% in December to reach £162,103, its eighth consecutive monthly increase. Prices rose by 5.9% in 2009 overall.

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Katie Tucker, technical manager at Mortgageforce, said sentiment about the property market
had improved, with demand among buyers still high.

She added: “People are more confident about the market as a result of emerging signs of economic recovery, and this is helping to tempt cash buyers into the market.”