UK homeowners paid back a record £8.1 billion on their mortgages in the first three months of this year, as Britons took advantage of historically low interest rates to pay down debt.

According to figures from the Bank of England, the £8.1 billion injection is the highest sum homeowners have ploughed into their houses since records began in 1970.

The Bank's mortgage equity withdrawal report for the first quarter of 2009 showed a rise in the amount of capital injected into the housing market from £7.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 and up from a withdrawal of £6.7 billion in the first quarter of 2008.

The increase is further proof that mortgage borrowers are no longer treating their homes like ATMs, and are instead taking advantage of the low interest rate, currently 0.5 per cent, to help pay off their home loans.

Ashley Brown, director of Moneysprite, the independent mortgage broker, said: "The hedonistic days of living the good life and borrowing against the value of your property are a distant memory. Homeowners now recognise that this is the time to batten down the hatches and reduce their debt rather than live on credit."

The figures also reflect the ongoing difficulty obtaining mortgages among borrowers who do not have much equity and are unwilling to take on additional debt as house prices fall.

The net injection of housing equity accounted for 3.5 per cent of post-tax income in the first quarter of 2009. In contrast, net housing equity withdrawal had been 6.2 per cent of post-tax income in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist of IHS Global Insight, said: "Sharply falling house prices have made housing equity withdrawal increasingly unattractive, while very tight credit conditions have made it more difficult to carry out the process as well as to take out new mortgages.

"In addition, ever lower savings rates have made it increasingly more attractive for many people to use any spare funds that they have to reduce their mortgages. "

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