The Bank of England has released data that shows the UK housing market is refreshingly robust as mortgage approvals hit the highest level since March 2014.

The data supports finding from the British banker Association who last week said mortgage approvals were the strongest since April 2014.

Not only were new mortgage approvals, but remortgage activity also strong, research conducted on high street bank lending showed remortgages were made at the highest level in four years.

“This was a 29% surge on 12 months before and the highest figure we’ve seen for four years. Savvy homeowners are snapping up competitive deals before an expected increase in interest rates,” said Richard Woolhouse, Chief Economist at the BBA.