Mortgage lending improving in Midlands and the North

Meanwhile, London rents increase for the first time in six months

2 bedroom flat to rent in Glenloch Road, Belsize Park. On with Benham and Reeves for £475 per week.

High LTV house purchase lending rose 47 per cent year-on-year in August, according to chartered surveyor e.surv.

There were just over 7,000 loans to borrowers with a deposit of 15 per cent or below in August, compared to 4,827 in August 2012.

Around 21% of all house purchase loans in the North East and Cumbria were to high LTV borrowers in August, the highest proportion of any region. The second and third highest were the North West (20 per cent) and Yorkshire(18 per cent).

Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors, said: "House prices in the North have risen more slowly over the last five years than in much of the UK, and so that’s driven a boom in high LTV borrowers in the North for whom house purchase loans are still affordable.

"High LTV lending is the fuel powering the mortgage market recovery. Borrowers with smaller deposits fell out of the bottom of the market when the financial crisis hit, but they are returning now in their droves."

The Midlands was the region that showed the biggest improvement in lending to high LTV borrowers. Last August 11 per cent of all approvals in this region were to high LTV borrowers, but that figure has now risen to 15 per cent.

Meanwhile, rents in Greater London rose 1.74 per cent in August, the first monthly increase in the capital since March, according to Move with Us.

Robin King, Director of Move with Us, said: "August was a good month for tenants, as most regions in Great Britain witnessed a fall in rents. The South East and London continue to perform strongly as the most expensive regions and have remained strong in a month where other regions have witnessed small declines in rent, most notably East Anglia which has been one of the best performing regions in 2013."