Monthly gross remortgage lending increased by £489m in April to £3.4bn, according to latest figures from LMS.

This is up 17.0% on March’s £2.9bn reported by the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) last week.

The CML has also reported that total gross mortgage lending rose 4.3% in April to £12.1bn, from £11.6bn in March. As a result, remortgages now represent 28% of the market; this is the highest proportion since October 2012 (32%).

LMS estimates that the total number of remortgage loans in April increased by 16.1% to 24,042 compared with 20,700 in March. This figure, however, is down 8.1% on this time last year.

The average remortgage loan amount has risen slightly over the past month and now stands at £140,260. Although this figure is not as high as February’s peak, it is 7.9% higher than this time last year (£129,957).

Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS said: “April marks the second consecutive month of growth for the remortgage sector, with the total remortgage lending figure rising 17%.

“Although total gross mortgage lending also experienced strong growth, this was surpassed by the increases in the remortgage sector. As a result, remortgaging now represents the largest proportion of the total market since October 2012.

“People choosing to remortgage at the moment are benefitting from the competitive landscape created by the government’s Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS). The resultant excellent rates from lenders are – as you can see from our figures – fuelling growth in the market.”