Mortgage lending dropped last month on both a monthly and annual basis, lenders have said.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates that gross mortgage lending reached £14.3bn in January.

This represents a 14% decrease from December’s gross lending total (£16.6bn) and is 11% lower than the £16.1bn lent in January last year.

CML chief economist Bob Pannell said: “The softer pace of approvals through the second half of last year contributed to the relatively weak pace of mortgage lending in January.

“Although seasonal factors will continue to weigh on activity levels for a while longer, we expect the underlying picture to pick up over the coming months, in line with stronger earnings and employment, gentle interest rate trends and recent stamp duty changes.

“As we forecast at the end of last year, gross mortgage lending remains on course to reach an expected £222bn this year.”