Figures released by the Bank of England show that net mortgage lending increased by £9.3b in May to a total of £29.2b, which was above the increase in April (£8.6b) and the previous six month average (£8.7b). The twelve-month growth rate increased by 0.1 percentage point to 10.9%.
A total of 117,000 mortgage loans were approved in May for house purchase, which was 11,000 more than in April. The number of approvals for remortgaging was 7,000 more than in April.
The total value of mortgage approvals in May, which also includes remortgaging, was £29.2b, compared with April at £28.0b and the £28.5b average recorded over the previous six months. May's total was the highest since records began in October 1997.
The total amount of mortgage debt owed by home owners has now exceeded £1trillion pounds for the first time.
