Mortgage approvals by high-street banks climbed to a 15-month high in June, according to figures released by the British Bankers' Association (BBA).

Over 35,000 mortgages were approved for house purchases in June this year, up from 31,000 in May. This figure represents a 65% increase on the amount of mortgage approvals this time last year.

"Numbers of new home loans approved by the high street banks are recovering from the very low level last November and so far this year gross mortgage lending has topped £50bn," said BBA statistics director, David Dooks.