The British Bankers’ Association (BBA) has reported that mortgage approvals were around 8% higher in June than at the same time last year, after allowing for the effects of the change in mortgage rules.

Within that, remortgaging was some 20% higher, which the BBA said probably reflected borrowers’ appetite to lock in to current fixed rates and gain certainty over their future outgoings.

Lending to larger companies continues to be subdued, as alternative capital market finance grew by some £8.9 billion in the first half of 2015.

The proportion of active credit card accounts is at its highest for four years.

Richard Woolhouse, chief economist at the BBA, said: “The housing market is beginning to hot up again, with a pick-up in the number of mortgage approvals for the last month. Interestingly, we’ve also seen an increase in the number of people remortgaging, which could be down to savvy borrowers taking advantage of competitive deals on fixed-rate mortgages ahead of a possible rise in interest rates.

“Lending to some business sectors continues to show good results, although in the case of real estate, banks are being cautious as they try to refinance bad loans.

“It’s good news that savings deposits are also up this month, as consumers put away a little something extra for a rainy day.”