November was a bumper month for house purchase lending with the number of loans topping 70,000 for the first time since January 2008.
Lending was 34% higher than one year ago as the market ended 2013 on a five-year high, according to the latest Mortgage Monitor from chartered surveyor e.surv, published today.
The 9,493 high-LTV loans in November were double the number for the same month in 2012.
The Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) has had a major impact, with £5.8 billion worth of loans filtering through to borrowers, the research showed.
There were 71,920 house purchase approvals in November, a 6% increase on October, in the latest sign of growing lender and consumer confidence.
Lending to home-buyers was 34% higher than a year ago, when the number of loans approvals came in at just 53,539.
One in eight of all house purchase approvals went to high-LTV borrowers, as lenders increased support to borrowers with deposits worth 15% or less of the total value of their property.
There were 9,493 high-LTV loans in November, 3% higher than in October, and almost double the number of high-LTV loans in November last year.
That was the highest number of high-LTV loans advanced in a single month since April 2008.
The increase in approvals follows the release of new data from the Bank of England showing that net lending through the FLS tripled in the third quarter of this year.
Net lending by banks using the scheme climbed to £5.8 billion between July and September, compared to just £1.6 billion between April and June.
Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors, said the mortgage market is making "definite strides" back to its pre-crisis health.
"Between the tail-end of the summer and this autumn, lenders tapped the FLS for almost £6 billion worth of funds, and that honeypot is now filtering through to homeowners, in the form of more loans and cheaper rates.
"Despite the changes to FLS, the mortgage market will continue to thrive. FLS spurred a limping market into action at the beginning this year, but since then Help to Buy has taken the lead in driving the market forwards.
“November is defying expectations with a continued acceleration in house purchase lending. It comes amid good news of growing GDP and falling unemployment.
"Positivity is sweeping through the economy and encouraging more prospective homebuyers to the market."
Sexton said Help to Buy is taking up the mantle as the FLS is phased out.
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