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Bank of England figures have revealed a new increase in mortgage lending for house purchases.

Continuing a recent trend for the tally of these to rise, the data for November showed the total number of home loans agreed was 60,518, up from October's total of 57,718.

This was also above the six-month average of 52,776.

At the same time, a tendency in the last few months for the number of remortgages to decline month-on-month went into reverse, with the November tally up by 384 on October's total at 24,897.

However, it remained less than the six-month average of 29,069.

Commenting on the news for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, senior economist Oliver Gilmartin said: "Today's figures rep support our view that increasing momentum in the housing market will see further rises in house prices during early part of this year."

He added that the Bank's own data indicates that there is likely to be a "gradual improvement in the lending environment" in the next few months.