House purchase and remortgage approvals both bounced back in September after two months of falls, Bank of England figures show.

There were 66,140 approvals for house purchase lending and 44,719 for remortgaging in September, up from 63,636 and 41,347 respectively in August.

Annually, house purchase approvals are actually down from 73,372 in September 2015 but remortgaging is up from 43,238 in the same period.

The value of house purchase approvals also fell slightly year-on-year from £12.5bn to £11.3bn in September.

The value of remortgage lending rose from £7bn in August 2016 to £7.6bn in September 2016 and is up from £7.3bn year-on-year.

Responding to the data, Andrew McPhillips, chief economist at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “The housing crisis is arguably one of the most significant issues facing the UK at present, and is producing an inter-generational divide in wealth.

“It is not only affecting first-time buyers, but also limiting the number of properties available to existing home owners, potentially leaving them in a home which no longer suits their needs.

“In order to subvert this trend, the UK needs to build more houses to ensure that enough properties are available to buy, and reduce the level of house price inflation.”