The number of loans advanced to homebuyers climbed above 70,000 in November 2013, the first time since January 2008, according to the latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv.

House purchase approvals rose 6% on October 2013 to 71,920, as lending to home-buyers was 34% higher than a year ago, when the number of loans approvals came in at just 53,539.

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 Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) for almost £6bn worth of funds, and that honeypot is now filtering through to homeowners, in the form of more loans and cheaper rates.

“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. And lenders are extending more loans using FLS as a safety valve to release the pressure of lending to riskier high LTV borrowers.”

13% of house purchase approvals were to high LTV borrowers, those 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 than in November 2012 (4,872). It was the highest number of LTV loans advanced in a single month since April 2008.

Data from the Bank of England indicated that net lending through FLS tripled in Q3 2013. Net lending by banks using the scheme climbed to £5.8bn between July and September, compared to just £1.6bn between April and June.