New mortgage lending completed in January was unchanged compared to the same month last year, with £22.7bn lent, according to the Bank of England (BoE).

This figure was down slightly from the £23.1bn lent in December 2019, which was the highest since March 2016 when landlords were attempting to beat the introduction of the stamp duty surcharge.

However, approvals for new lending were up to 137,185 – the highest level since the financial crisis.

This was up 4.6 per cent from January 2019 and up 3.6 per cent on December 2019, which had been the highest level since August 2018.

Perhaps most encouragingly mortgage approvals for house purchase rose to 70,900 in January, 4.4 per cent higher than in December, and the highest since February 2016.

The Bank of England noted that this value was above the very narrow range seen over past few years.

Approvals for remortgage also rose on the month, by 3.9 per cent to 52,100.

Phoebus Software sales and marketing director Richard Pike said the first insight into the mortgage lending figures for January painted a reassuring picture reflecting a boost in confidence since the general election.

“With Nationwide Building Society last week reporting that house price growth is at its highest for 18 months, we are looking at a more buoyant market generally,” he said.

“That being said there are a few factors that may well start to weigh heavy on confidence once again.”

He added: “Nonetheless, the general malaise the market has suffered since 2016 seems to be behind us for now so we have to be optimistic, the budget may well give us all a nice surprise.”