Its latest figures revealed that £1.73bn of mortgages were approved by mutuals in January compared to £1.12bn in January 2011.
However, approvals were down from £1.84bn in December, while gross mortgage lending in January was down from £2.09bn in December.
Net lending was £1m in January compared to £35m in December and -£534m 12 months previously.
2011 as a whole saw gross mortgage lending by mutuals rise 15.6% on 2010 to a total of £23.6bn, while mortgage approvals rose to £23.1bn, up 19.4% on the previous year.
Net mortgage lending in 2011 was -£2.24bn compared to -£6.25bn in 2010.
Adrian Coles, director-general of the BSA, said: “New lending and approvals for house purchase picked up across the market in January, perhaps in part due to first-time buyers taking advantage of the Stamp Duty holiday before it ends in March.
“Lending activity by mutuals was up significantly in January compared to the same month last year, continuing the trend of increased lending by the mutual sector seen throughout 2011.”
Brian Murphy, Head of Lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “In recent years, building societies have re-established themselves in the mortgage market by increasingly providing competitive products and in many instances by offering more flexible lending criteria than some other providers.
“The figures released by the BSA today shows that consumers are once again taking advantage of these deals to purchase their first home, remortgage or buy a new property.”
