British mortgage lending rose in February, according to figures seen as adding to evidence that the decline in the country's property market is bottoming out.
Figures from the Major British Banking Groups revealed gross mortgage lending was £11.9 billion last month, a monthly rise of 3% but still 12% lower than February 2004.
Seasonally adjusted net mortgage lending - gross lending minus repayments - rose by £4.8 billion compared with £4.2 billion in January and £5.3 billion a year ago. This compares with an average of £4.4 billion in the previous six months.
There were 158,391 approvals in February, up 22% on January but 25% weaker than February 2004.
'While mortgage lending is clearly running at levels below those a year earlier, February's figures indicate the declining trend seen during 2004 may be bottoming out,' said David Dooks, director of statistics at the British Bankers' Association.
