Increased demand for borrowing, fuelled by the Help to Buy and Funding for Lending Schemes and a buoyant buy-to-let market has pushed up the overall stock of mortgages.

Throughout much of 2013 net lending contracted but the BBA’s statistics show that over the last year the stock of mortgages funded by banks has increased by 0.7 per cent.

However, mortgage approvals dipped in April compared to the previous month falling from a value of £11.1bn in March to £10.5bn, but compared to April 2013 approvals have risen by 25 per cent.

House purchase approvals took the biggest dive falling from 45,045 in March to 42,173 in April.

Remortgage approvals remained largely the same in both value and volume.

This fall coincides with the introduction of the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) rules, which came into force on 26 April. Under the changes implemented by the Financial Conduct Authority, borrowers face tougher affordability checks from lenders to ensure people only take out a mortgage they can afford.

Jonathan Harris, director of mortgage broker Anderson Harris, said: “The introduction of the Mortgage Market Review may be having an effect: while it’s still early days, with many lenders introducing the new rules weeks ahead of the official launch, its’ impact may already be starting to be felt.”