In a survey by the Bank of England on lenders’ views on credit conditions, they said the slight increase was mainly due to their expectations that house prices will continue to rise.
It follows a strong second and third quarter, which saw increases of 8.8% and 15.5% respectively.
Lenders expect the net amount of available secured loans to increase by 14.6% in the first quarter of 2016.
Gross secured lending reached over £200bn in the 11 months to November 2015, so likely to outperform the £203bn completed in 2014.
Demand for secured lending for house purchases increased slightly in the last quarter, also expected to continue this year.
Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, said: “Existing homeowners are becoming increasingly aware that the clock is ticking on rock-bottom mortgage rates.
“While any increase in interest rates would be gradual at first, many buyers will be looking to take advantage of the current market and lock into preferential rates. As house prices continue to rise, homeowners are in a prime position to leverage rising housing equity to unlock more affordable rates,” he said.
Remortgage lending also increased by 36% year-on-year, from £3.6bn to £4.9bn, while transactions increased 24% from 24,000 to 29,300, figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) show.
Buy-to-let remortgaging drove the yearly increases in this sector, rising 62% from £1.3bn to £2.1bn, while loan numbers climbed 51% from 8,700 to 13,100.