More signs of recovery have emerged in the mortgage market after figures showed a rise in the number of approvals for the second month in a row.

January's total of 60,786 is still down by a fifth on a year earlier but the latest report from the Bank of England shows the best figure since September.

There were 75,557 approvals in January 2014 when schemes such as Help to Buy unleashed a flood of demand into the housing market amid widened access to low-deposit mortgage deals and growing economic confidence.

Stricter mortgage rules, which came into force in April, and a changing mood among house-hunters as they grew more cautious in the face of some of the prices sellers were demanding, were said to be behind the cooling in the housing market recovery which was seen in the latter part of 2014.

More recently, there has been evidence that the market is poised for another lift in activity as a mortgage price war, which broke out between lenders last autumn, has intensified further this year, with many lenders offering their lowest ever rates on certain deals.

Samuel Tombs, senior UK economist at Capital Economics, said today's figures suggested a pick-up in activity was likely in the coming months.

He added: "January's rise should be just the start of a more substantial recovery in mortgage lending, supported by the recent reforms to stamp duty, stronger growth in real incomes and lower mortgage rates."

The Bank's figures also show that consumers' borrowing on their credit cards increased by £208 million in January, compared with £287 million in December. The net increase in other loans and advances rallied to £609 million in January after slowing to £229 million in December.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "It may be that increased purchasing power resulting from very low inflation and rising earnings has diluted the need for a number of people to borrow.

"It should also be borne in mind that retail sales had been particularly strong in November as they were lifted by Black Friday

"Nevertheless, it does appear that high consumer confidence means that people have become more prepared to borrow in recent months."

Lending to non-financial businesses was much improved at the start of the year, with an increase of almost £1.9 billion, the highest figure since May last year.

Within this, net lending to small and medium-sized enterprises edged up by £75 million in January after falling by £1.2 billion in December.