"Record low mortgage rates are responsible for the resilience we have seen, with many borrowers remortgaging to take advantage of the lowest rates ever."
The figure beats the 45,683 approvals seen in November, which was the highest seen since October 2008.
Approvals for house purchase were 67,898, broadly in line with recent months.
Total lending secured on dwellings rose by £3.8 billion in December, the highest flow since March 2016.
Jeremy Duncombe, Director, Legal & General Mortgage Club, commented: “The Bank of England’s figures clearly show a strong end to the year for the mortgage market. It is particularly encouraging to see so many savvy borrowers taking the initiative and saving themselves a potentially significant sum of money by swapping their existing mortgage deal."
Jonathan Sealey, CEO at Hope Capital, said: “Remortgaging continues to carry the rest of the market. There is no doubt that consumers are making the most of the continued low interest environment before Article 50 is triggered and we move into another uncertain economic world. However, home movers numbers remain low, which is a cause for concern for the future health of the market. Until this changes we will have a lack of properties coming to market and we will be ever reliant on new property being built.”
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, added: "The level of mortgage lending for December was encouraging and helped make 2016 a surprisingly good year for the market, particularly when one considers the significant headwinds created by the increase in stamp duty for landlords and second homeowners in April and the uncertainty surrounding the referendum.
"Record low mortgage rates are responsible for the resilience we have seen, with many borrowers remortgaging to take advantage of the lowest rates ever. Meanwhile, first-time buyers have been able to take advantage of an increase in the number of high loan-to-value deals and despite fears that the end of the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme would give them a massive setback, this doesn’t seem to be the case."
