Borrowers with smaller deposits accounted for the largest portion of house purchase lending in five months in February, according to the latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv.

Higher LTV house purchase approvals (loans to borrowers with a deposit of up to 15% of the total value of their property) made up 16.9% of house purchase approvals in February, a significant proportional increase from 15.3% in January and just 13.9% in December.

Higher LTV approvals formed the largest proportion of total house purchase lending since September 2014.

As a result, the absolute number of higher LTV approvals has bounced-back. There were 10,298 higher LTV loans in February, 10.7% more than in January. February also marks the third consecutive month of growth in higher LTV approvals.

The rise was partly driven by rising property prices. The average purchase price for first-time buyer homes climbed to a new record of £160,304 in January, 12% higher than January 2014, according to the latest First Time Buyer Tracker from Your Move and Reeds Rains.