A massive 105,000 mortgages were approved for house purchase in November, the highest number since August 2007, according to the Bank of England.

The recent strength in approvals has almost fully offset the significant weakness earlier in the year, when the UK was under national lockdown.

There were 715,300 house purchase approvals up to November 2020, close to the number during the same period in 2019 (722,000).

The value of those mortgage approvals was also up in November, to £5.7 billion from £4.5 billion in October, according to the Bank of England.

However, the Bank also noted that total borrowing by value in the year to November (£37.6 billion) was still below the equivalent in 2019 (£44.0 billion).

Approvals for remortgaging rose slightly in November to 35,100, but are still around 33% lower than in February 2020.

Andrew Montlake, managing director at mortgage broker, Coreco, said: “Despite the uncertainties in the economy, people’s desire to take advantage of the Stamp Duty holiday drove mortgage approvals to a 13-year high in November.

“The closing stages of 2020 were among the busiest we’ve ever been as a broker. That looks set to continue in the first quarter, too, ahead of the looming Stamp Duty deadline.

“If you’ve got a deposit of 15% or more, there’s an abundance of products and it’s pretty much business as usual in the mortgage market.

“95% loan-to-value mortgages remain a pipe dream for the vast majority of people in the current market unless you are buying a new build through the Help to Buy scheme. In most cases, you can forget it.

“Many prospective buyers with small deposits are now fully aware that their chances of getting a mortgage agreed are remote.”