A tripling of new lending by Skipton Building Society last year helped to achieve a surprise surge in approvals for new house purchases, which have defied expectations by rising to their highest in almost two years.

Loan approvals for house purchase rose to 52,854 in November with a total value of £7.6 billion, the second monthly rise in a row and the highest figure since December 2009, the Bank of England figures showed.

But the number of loans for remortgaging declined for the second month in a row to reach 31,154, worth £4.1 billion overall, the lowest figure since last June.

Gross lending by building societies and other mutuals rose by nearly a quarter in December to £2.5 billion and a new high since the Building Societies Association started reporting on the current basis last January.

The BSA gross mortgage lending had risen by 16 per cent in the first 11 months of 2011 to £21.5 billion compared with £18.6 billion in January to November 2010, and £2.1 billion of mortgages were approved in November last year – a rise of 13 per cent on November 2010.

Savings balances held by mutuals increased by £500 million in November, compared to an increase of £600 million a year earlier. In the first 11 months of 2011, savings balances held with mutuals increased by £3.7 billion, compared to a decrease in balances of £1.3 billion in the same period in 2010.

Adrian Coles, BSA director-general, said: “Mutuals have shown their resilience in the face of tough market conditions over the past year and have continued to see their new mortgage lending increase.

“The New Year has seen some excellent mortgage products go on sale from mutuals with a return to some offering higher loan-to-value mortgages. These are encouraging trends against rather discouraging developments in the wider economy.”

Tracy Fletcher, head of corporate communications at Skipton Building Society, said: “We’re not surprised by these encouraging figures, which underline the disproportionate role mutuals like ourselves play in bringing vitality and choice to the financial services marketplace.

“We have tripled our new lending over the past year, albeit from a low base, to help homeowners battling against the impact of current market conditions on mortgage availability.

“We’ve also done our best to help return the ailing mortgage market to health by offering some of the only products available to groups such as first-time buyers and landlords which are crucial to its overall vitality.”