Home lending in 2016 saw its best opening quarter for nine years, according to the latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv, which found that an average 71,710 house purchase loans were granted across the first three months of 2016, the highest opening quarter total since 2007 – which saw 116,898 granted.

The first few months of unusually high activity have been powered by a rush from buy-to-let landlords racing to beat April’s stamp duty changes. However, March saw a monthly dip in lending as some landlords were too late to beat the stamp duty surcharges coming into effect on the 1st April. The month saw 67,173 overall house purchase approvals (seasonally adjusted) – 9.1% lower than the 73,871 seen in February. Despite this, March marked a return to normal activity with all borrowers, including first-time buyers, benefiting from a healthy range of mortgage products.

To date a total of 210,468 house purchase approvals have been granted this year, 13.5% higher than 185,356 in the first three months of 2015. House purchase lending has also risen annually – up 8.2% from 62,095 loans granted in March 2015.