Gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £12.9 billion in September, according to the latest data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

This represented a 2% decrease from the £13.1 billion lent in August but was 4% higher than September 2010.

Gross lending for the third quarter of 2011 was an estimated £38.6 billion, a 15% increase from the second quarter of this year (£33.5 billion) and a 2% increase from the third quarter of 2010 (£37.9 billion).

Bob Pannell, the CML’s chief economist, said: “Both house purchase and remortgage lending appear to have fared well in September