Boost for new mortgage approvals

Mortgage approvals have hit a 25-month high after numbers were boosted by first-time buyers rushing to take advantage of a stamp duty holiday.

There were 58,728 loan approvals for house purchase in January, the highest figure since December 2009, Bank of England figures showed. Gross mortgage lending at £12.8 billion was higher than the six-month average, although approvals for remortgaging dropped off slightly to 31,952.