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Mortgage lending jumped to £11.5bn in March, a 24% rise from February the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.The figure was also 3% up on March last year, when the market had reached its nadir in the wake of the credit crunch.
Despite this rise, the CML said activity in the property market was still relatively subdued.
It pointed out that total mortgage lending in the first three months of the year was still substantially lower than in the last three months of 2009.
"Despite the increase in activity late last year and a subsequent fall early this year - due to the end of the stamp duty holiday - the underlying position looks to have barely changed," said CML economist Paul Samter.
"But with the gradually improving economic backdrop and interest rates still low, we continue to expect a gentle improvement in market conditions later in the year," he added.
The CML repeated its warning that from 2011, lenders would have to find about £300bn to repay the money the government has lent them via its emergency support schemes.
As such, mortgage lending would continue to be restricted, it said.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.