There were 27% more mortgage approvals for house purchase by the big high street banks than in January last year.

Meanwhile, Rightmove has reported that homes are now taking an average of 79 days on the market before selling subject to contract. This time last year, selling time was 87 days.

Trade body the BBA says that anecdotally, this is due to buy-to-let and second-home purchases seeking to complete ahead of the April 1 Stamp Duty surcharge deadline.

Altogether, were were 80,282 mortgage approvals by the big banks, of which 47,509 were for house purchase.

This figure was up from December’s approvals figure of 75,602.

The average approval for a house purchase mortgage was £178,900.

According to Rightmove, Britain’s fastest selling hotspot is Dartford, Kent, where homes fly off the shelves in 16 days, cutting two-thirds (33 days) off last year’s average of 49 days.

Darlington homes take longest to sell, at an average of 132 days.