Gross mortgage lending in May was an estimated £12.2 billion, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
This represents a 24 per cent rise from £9.9 billion in April and a 13 per cent rise from May 2011 (£10.8 billion).
CML chief economist Bob Pannell commented: “The government has recently announced a number of measures to counter the adverse effects from the Eurozone crisis. It clearly senses an opportunity to bolster home ownership and housing activity, and we look forward to hearing more details about the “funding for lending” initiative which seeks to deliver this.
“Meanwhile, mortgage lending continues to seesaw, albeit against a broadly flat market. Unfortunately, a number of one-off factors, such as the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, are set to distort market indicators over the coming months, and it may be the autumn before we can more accurately gauge the state of the market.”
