The Bank of England has reported that the number of loan approvals for house purchase was 62,918 in April, compared to the average of 70,132 over the previous six months.

The number of approvals for remortgaging was 31,703, compared to the average of 34,316 over the previous six months.

The Bank added that the number of approvals for other purposes was 11,874, compared to the average of 12,794 over the previous six months.

Richard Woolhouse, chief economist at the British Bankers’ Association, said: “These figures pour cold water on claims that Britain is experiencing an overblown housing boom. As the BBA’s figures for the same period have already shown mortgage approvals fell in April for the third consecutive month. Next month’s data will be extremely significant as it will show what effect new regulation is having on lending.

“The outstanding stock of lending to SMEs is falling, but the really interesting thing in today’s data is the strong rise in new lending to smaller businesses – that’s up nearly 18 per cent rise over the past three months. It’s pleasing that those firms are feeling confident about applying for finance and that banks are giving those the customers the support they need to grow.”