Mortgage approvals on house purchases for December sat at 66,526 up marginally (+0.7%) from 66,061 in November, according to the Bank of England data.

Approvals remain considerably higher (+27.7%) than the 52,087 seen in December 2023.

Total approvals for 2024 sat at 754,983 and are up (+30.8%) when compared to 2023 total approvals of 577,173.

There is still optimism for further mortgage approval increases in the coming months, especially if bank rate cuts materialise.

Karim Haji, global and UK head of financial services at KPMG, said: “Consumer confidence remained suppressed in December due to the uncertain economic outlook.

“Some households will not have had a positive financial start to 2025 and with conditions set to remain challenging, lenders will need to be ready to provide the necessary support, particularly in debt and budget management.”

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Stephanie Daley, Director of Partnerships at mortgage advisor, Alexander Hall, said, “2024 was a year of very positive growth for the mortgage sector, with the number of approvals seen trending upwards as a result of a stabilising property market, with more of the same expected we throughout 2025.

Whilst the fast approaching stamp duty deadline will help to cultivate buyer activity levels in the short-term, long-term health is also expected to be driven by the potential easing of loan to income caps which will help improve affordability, as well as the expectation of further base rate reductions.

This will help boost confidence amongst first-time buyers and next steppers, with further support likely to be provided via the ongoing lender innovations being introduced to the market.”

CEO of specialist lender Octane Capital, Jonathan Samuels, added, “Any predictions of a seasonal slump in mortgage market activity have been dispelled today, with the latest figures from the Bank of England showing that mortgage approvals actually increased in December, despite the distractions of the festive season.

This heightened activity was no doubt driven, in part, by buyers keen to make their move ahead of the impending stamp duty deadline this April.

However, mortgage market health hasn’t been driven by the prospect of a stamp duty saving alone and, in fact, we saw some 31% more mortgage approvals complete over the course of last year when compared to 2023.

Whilst mortgage rates haven’t reduced as much as the nation’s buyers may have liked they remain largely undeterred and, with the prospect that they will at least start to fall in 2025, we expect another busy year for the mortgage sector.”