Data from the Bank of England has revealed that gross mortgage lending rose to £20.6bn in Apil, the highest total since January 2023.
The figure is marginally higher than the previous month’s total of £20.5bn, according to the central bank's monthly Money and Credit report.
Additionally, gross mortgage repayments fell to £19bn in April, down from £19.4bn in March.
A net total of £2.4bn of mortgage debt was borrowed in April – a sharp increase on the £500m borrowed in March.
The Money and Credit report also revealed this was the first annual growth rate for net mortgage lending since October 2022.
Where March saw a record low of 0.1%, April has demonstrated growth of 0.2%.
61,100 house purchase approvals were approved in April, a figure similar to the 61,300 given the green light in March.
However, remortgage approvals were down from 33,500 in March to 29,900 in April.
Holly Andrews, intermediary team manager at Saffron for Intermediaries, said: “It is important to remember that today’s figures come off the back of six months of growth in mortgage approvals. While the slight dip today reflects the current financial pressures faced by borrowers, we expect activity to start increasing again as we move into the summer – a peak time for property transactions.
“When you add in inflation at its lowest level in almost three years, we can expect potential buyers to be eager to take the next step onto the property ladder.”
Frances McDonald, director of research at Savills, added: “Mortgage approvals in April remained relatively unchanged from the previous month at 61,100, on a seasonally adjusted basis. But they were 26% higher than April last year, highlighting that a greater range of buyers have been active in the market, following more stability in the cost of fixed rate mortgages.
“This increase brings them back to 94% of their pre-pandemic level, as the average mortgage rate on new lending averaged at 4.74% in April, down from 5.19% at the start of the year.
“However, affordability remains the greatest driver in the mainstream housing markets, and so the pace and scale of interest rate cuts will continue to have a more significant impact on activity than the timing or outcome of the upcoming general election.”
The interest rate paid on newly drawn mortgages in April averaged at 4.74%, just one basis point higher than in March.
Meanwhile, the rate on the outstanding stock of mortgages rose by seven basis points to 3.57%.
Mark Harris, chief executive of SPF Private Clients, said increases reflected “some higher mortgage pricing on the back of rising swap rates. Since then, inflation has moved closer to its 2% target, making an interest rate cut increasingly likely.”
