Mortgage lending in September is estimated to have been £21.4bn by trade body UK Finance, 5% higher than a year ago.

Of this, it noted that nearly two-thirds, or £13.7bn, was carried out by high street banks.

UK Finance’s senior economist Mohammad Jamei, said: “As we near the end of 2017, our data is showing that housing market activity has built up modest momentum since the start of the year, helped by an increase in first-time buyer numbers.

“Rising inflation continues to put pressure on household budgets which is impacting consumer spending. Consumer credit growth has edged up a little compared to last month, but is in line with annual growth rates over the last year.”

Transaction levels robust

The number of transactions has remained just above 100,000 each month since January, supported by recovering levels of house purchase approvals, said UK Finance. Its house purchase approvals data, which covers just over two-thirds of the market, implies we can expect activity to recover a little further towards the end of this year.

Looking at activity over the longer term, there’s been little movement in transactions since early 2014.

On the remortgage side, competition amongst lenders, as well as near record low mortgage rates has meant more and more homeowners are remortgaging and locking in deals. If talk of the first rate rise in over 10 years continues to gain momentum, growth in this part of the market would be likely.

John Goodall, CEO and co-founder of Landbay, said: “Mortgage lending activity dipped slightly in September but remains significantly up on last year’s levels as borrowers continue to take advantage of record low interest rates and loan-to-value deals.

“These more accommodating borrowing conditions are however set to change in the coming months as the prospect of the first interest rate rise in almost a decade looms large, putting pressure on borrowers, and potentially putting off first time buyers.”