Mortgage lending on the increase

Gareth Fuller/PA Archive/Press Association Images

Mortgage lending has shown a "healthy improvement" following a slump caused by the ending of a stamp duty concession for first-time buyers, lenders said.

There were 48,300 loans advanced for house purchase in May worth £7.2 billion, a jump of one-third month-on-month, and a quarter higher than the same month last year, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.