Mortgage lending for house purchase swung up in July, lenders have reported, with lending to both first-time buyers and home movers the highest since the crash.

There were 67,800 house purchase loans in total, up from 63,100 in June, and from 64,700 in July last year.

It was the third consecutive month of growth by both volume and value.

By value, lending to first-time buyers was up 7% on the year, and 5% on a monthly basis.

There were 30,200 loans, up from 29,400 in June and from 28,900 in July last year.

By both volume and value, this was the highest level of lending to first-time buyers since August 2007.

There were 37,700 house purchase loans to home movers, representing the highest lending level by volume since December 2009, and by value, the highest since November 2007.

The figures compare with 25,200 loans for buy-to-let, around half of which – 11,800 – were for house purchase and the rest for remortgage.

Remortgaging by home owners was down slightly – by 4.4% – on a monthly basis, but remains the headline story in terms of all loans, up 34% year on year.

The value of remortgages in July stood at £5.1bn, ahead of house purchase loans for first-time buyers.