Over 34,262 borrowers were approved for remortgages, up from 30,429 in  October, which is a considerable jump on the 28,210 monthly average.

The number of loan approvals for house purchase at 48,019 was also slightly higher than the October figure of 47,315.

Brian Murphy, head of lending at independent mortgage broker, Mortgage Advice Bureau, said the spectre of interest rate rises is pushing consumers to act to seal in low rates sooner rather than later.

“The sharp increase in the number of remortgages shows that consumers are becoming far more wary of potential interest rate rises given the growing inflation threat. Increasingly, the belief is that Bank Rate will rise this year and not next,” he said.

Murphy said although mortgage approvals rose slightly on October, they remain low historically and are likely to fall back again in December and January for the usual seasonal reasons and as VAT dampens consumer spending enthusiasm.

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“Until consumer confidence increases and supply improves at higher LTVs, the mortgage market will remain stagnant. Overall, we expect an uneventful first quarter,” said Murphy.

Meanwhile, figures from the central bank showed approvals for other purposes fell to 22,770 from 23,425 in October and were lower than the previous six-month average of 24,149.

Within consumer credit, credit card lending rose £0.1 bn while other loans and advances showed a repayment of £0.2 billion.