There were 113,457 mortgages of all types approved in November 2009, at a combined value of £12.2bn according to figures released in a Capital Economics report.

Mortgage approvals for new house purchases rose above 60,000 for the first time since March 2008 to 60,518 although this was only a marginal increase from 57,718 in October 2009. There was 24,897 loans approved for re-mortgaging in November, which was only slightly higher than October’s 10 year low of 24,513.

Approvals however are still 40% below the average level seen prior to when the credit crunch started in 2007.

In the report an economist stated: ‘ Mortgage approvals for new house purchase have more than doubled in the space of one year. However, that impressive statistic is flattered by the desperately low level to which they fell at the end of 2008.’