A total of 43,414 loans were approved last month, which makes a slight rise from the 43,191 approved the previous month.
While some industry figures have seen the figures as an indication of improving conditions in the housing market, others have remembered that lending is still a long way off levels seen in May 2007, when 116,000 approvals were recorded.
Additionally, net lending, cutting out redemptions and repayments, stood at £324 million, which makes the lowest figure on record.
Economists have said that Government and Bank of England measures, such as cutting interest rates to historically low levels and injecting £125 billion into the economy through quantitative easing, have yet to have a substantial effect.
Andrew Montlake, the director of mortgage broker, Coreco has said: "Some people were expecting better figures but let's not kid ourselves, it's still very difficult to secure mortgage finance at higher LTVs. Once again, I am concerned that the number of remortgages has fallen. Fixed rates are rising and anyone settling for short term gain on a lender's SVR could be in for some long-term pain.”
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