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By Luke Jovetic
Know Your Money Editor

Getting onto the property ladder can be a tricky task, especially for a number of people looking to purchase their first home during the ongoing economic turbulence.

But things could be improving and new figures have suggested the outlook may be brighter for first-time buyers as mortgage lending was found to have increased last month.

Mortgage lending up

According to data published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) - whose members are banks, building societies and other lenders who together undertake around 94 per cent of all residential mortgage lending in the UK - loans rose by 15 per cent in June to an estimated £13.1 billion.

This is up on the £11.4 billion seen in May.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders' estimates that mortgage loans in the UK are currently worth more than £1.2 trillion.

There are also positive signs when the market is compared to the same period last year, with a seven per cent increase in gross lending this June, when mortgage lending stood at £12.2 billion.

Gross lending also increased to an estimated £35 billion between April and June this year, up 17 per cent from the first quarter of 2010 (£30 billion) and a seven per cent improvement on the second quarter of last year (£32.7 billion).

However, lending in the first half of 2010 remained unchanged from the first six months of 2009.

What the experts say

The CML suggested its gross lending estimate of £13.1 billion in June represented a seasonal pick-up and is higher than June last year.

But it pointed out it was still indicative of low levels of activity.

CML economist Paul Samter said: "There are signs of house prices stabilising and more properties coming onto the market following the abolition of home information packs.

This may improve liquidity in the market, but transaction levels are subdued and likely to remain so while access to credit remains constrained.

"The Financial Service Authority (FSA) has outlined a clear direction of travel as part of its mortgage market review. The consultation paper on responsible lending increases the regulatory burden on lenders and could make it harder for borrowers to access credit."

Brian Murphy, head of lending at independent mortgage broker Mortgage Advice Bureau, also issued caution about how the positive figures were interpreted and stated that buyers may decide to take a wait-and-see approach.

He suggested the healthy increase shown on the previous month may largely be down to the normal seasonal uplift seen in activity in the housing market.

"More revealing is the levels of lending in the first half of 2010, which are roughly the same as 2009, but whereas in the second half of 2009 the market had a boost with the end of the stamp duty holiday incentivising people to jump in and buy, there is no such incentive for buyers in the second half of 2010," he warned.

He pointed out mortgage lending at the end of the year could potentially be lower than the level seen the previous year due to factors including public sector cuts, taxation rises, a freeze on wage increases and inflationary pressures.

Moody's Investors Service recently suggested the FSA proposals for tighter rules on mortgage lending may compress both lending volumes and margins.

It anticipates that enforcement of these measures is likely to increase the cost for mortgage lenders, which in turn will impact on the number of eligible borrowers and the amount they are able to borrow.

In the short term Moody's predicted a reduced supply of credit to the housing market may lead to a decrease in house prices.

On a positive note, it expects the FSA measures to create an improved quality of new mortgages, which may eventually have a positive impact in the longer term.

According to figures from Nationwide, the average UK house price stood at £170,111 last month.

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