The research, carried out by the British Bankers’ Association, showed similar strong rises in transaction levels.
The number of mortgage approvals in January was 33% higher than a year ago, reaching 80,285. Broken down by transaction type, house purchase approvals accounted for 47,509 of overall agreed mortgages representing a 27% rise on January 2015.
Remortgaging approvals came to 25,040, an increase of 42% year-on-year. The balance is made up of further advances secured against the home.
Richard Woolhouse, chief economist at the BBA, said: “The start of the year has seen a significant rise in mortgage borrowing. It seems that this has been driven, in part, by borrowers looking to get ahead of the increases in Stamp Duty for buy-to-let and second home buyers scheduled to come into effect in April.”
The Council of Mortgage Lenders’ data, also released today, which broke down house purchase lending by region and country showed activity in the Capital had suffered.
The number of mortgage transactions in the Capital fell 5% to 81,600 worth £24.5bn, but still a 1% value increase on 2014.
In London, first-time buyer loan numbers dropped 6% over the year, to 45,600 worth £11.6bn.
