There were 69,630 mortgage approvals for house purchases in October, up from 69,012 in September, and up from an average of 68,099 over the previous six months.

The Bank of England figure also compares with 59,423 in October last year, but is still less than the figure of 70,748 approvals for house purchase this August.

Peter Rollings, CEO of Marsh & Parsons, said: “Lending has rebounded after September’s downward blip, and mortgage approvals have leaped an impressive 17% year-on-year.

“All the vitals are looking strong, and remortgaging and locking into long-term deals will still very much be the name of the game for many existing home owners awaiting potential interest rate movement in 2016.

“These figures only look at October – and George Osborne’s package of housing announcements in the Autumn Statement last week will have keyed up a new wave of first-time buyers eager to get their foot in the door.

“We may also see a winter flurry of buy-to-let borrowing before April’s Stamp Duty shake-up, as landlords seek to invest before the additional charge is levied on second homes.

“The big question as we enter the New Year is whether the supply of homes will match the increasing demand that’s clearly evident in the mortgage market.”

Separately, the NAEA has reported that house sales to first-time buyers accounted for 31% of sales in October – the highest proportion since August 2009.

The NAEA also said that inventory rose by 16% on a monthly basis, increasing from 37 properties per branch to 43, and that demand dropped for the fourth month running.

It says that there was an average of nine sales per estate agency branch during October.