This represents a 24% rise from £9.9bn in April and a 13% rise from May 2011 (£10.8bn).
CML chief economist Bob Pannell said: “The government has recently announced a number of measures to counter the adverse effects from the Eurozone crisis.
“It clearly senses an opportunity to bolster home ownership and housing activity, and we look forward to hearing more details about the “funding for lending” initiative which seeks to deliver this.
“Meanwhile, mortgage lending continues to seesaw, albeit against a broadly flat market.
“Unfortunately, a number of one-off factors, such as the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics, are set to distort market indicators over the coming months, and it may be the autumn before we can more accurately gauge the state of the market.”
And Michael Coogan, strategic adviser at Deloitte’s financial services practice, said: “The bounce back in gross lending in May is a welcome sign that borrowers are still keen to transact.
“The new "funding for lending" scheme should provide new opportunities for consumers to access the market in an affordable way. While short-term lending trends are difficult to call, the market improvement in 2012 is set to continue.”
Paul Hunt, managing director of Phoebus Software, meanwhile warned that though many will hail the massive rise in lending on the month as a sign of returning positivity it’s the annual growth in lending that’s significant.
And he added: “In a year in which a European nation has partially defaulted and appeared set to leave the eurozone altogether and in which the UK slid back into recession, that mortgage lenders have managed to achieve a substantial increase in their activity is testament to the innovative and proactive approach they have taken.”
