The slump in housing market activity following the end of the first-time buyer stamp duty holiday appears to have been relatively short-lived as lending for house buying increased substantially in May, according to new statistics from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

In May, lending increased by 36% compared to April and 29% compared to last May. The number of home loans also increased, by 33% from April and by 24% from a year ago.

CML report that remortgage lending also increased in May with £3.5 billion advanced for remortgages. This figure was up from the £3.1 billion in April but down from £3.8 billion 12 months ago when there was a greater expectation of potential interest rate rises.

First-time buyer activity bounced back following the volatility of March and April. 18,100 loans, worth £2.3 billion, were advanced to first-time buyers in May, up from 12,700, worth £1.5 billion, in April. CML say that this may be a 43% rise (53% by value) from April but, following the distorting effects of the end of the stamp duty concession, this returns first-time buyer lending back to a similar level seen in the second half of 2011. Lending to home movers also increased with 30,200 loans taken out, worth £4.9 billion. This was up 29% by number and value compared to April and up 25% (29% by value) from May 2011.

Repayment loans continue to dominate within all groups. 98% of loans taken out by first-time buyers were on a capital repayment basis, unchanged since March, 87% of home movers took this option, up from 85% in April and 82% of those remortgaging also did, unchanged since April.

Paul Smee, CML director general, said: "It is positive news for the market that the slump following the end of the stamp duty concession seems to have been short-lived. Lending is similar to late 2011 levels and showing a healthy improvement on the same time last year.

"However, the problems in the Eurozone have not gone away. Economic uncertainty could affect both the supply of mortgage lending and consumer confidence and we still anticipate a challenging lending environment for the rest of the year."