MORTGAGE lending was higher last month than in any February previously, with homebuyers borrowing £21.8 billion, up from £17.9 billion in the same month last year.

Together with surveys that have shown house prices edging upwards, the lending figures suggest that the improvement in the housing market is solidifying but not accelerating.

February remains the weakest month in the year for house purchases — it is just ahead of the Budget and between the traditional autumn and spring buying seasons. As a result, gross lending by members of the Council of Mortgage Lenders last month was still down 5 per cent on January’s £23 billion and was the lowest monthly total since last April.

Total mortgage debt to lenders — after repayments and redemptions — rose by £4.43 billion in February compared with January. This increase was 3 per cent less than the rise in January against December. Net mortgage lending averaged £4.8 billion over the previous six months.

Howard Archer, an economist at Global Insight, said that the slight softening in mortgage approvals recorded by the Council of Mortgage lenders and the Building Societies Association could be an early sign that house prices were rebounding ahead of disposable incomes and dampening down activity.

Other lending activity indicated that consumers may be generally cautious at the moment.

Net credit-card lending in February, at £183 million, was in line with the recent monthly average. Consumer debt in personal loans and overdrafts expanded by £503 million, down from £640 million in January.

There were also signs that people are replenishing their savings. Banks reported higher personal deposits. Savings deposits at building societies grew by £868 million, their highest February savings figure on record.

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