"The mortgage market remained steady and resilient in the final months of 2019, even in the lead up to a General Election."
The data shows that mortgage approvals for house purchase also picked up in December, to 67,200, above the 65,900 average of the past six months.
Approvals for remortgage rose slightly on the month to 49,700.
Kevin Roberts, director at Legal & General Mortgage Club, commented: “These lending figures from the Bank of England provide further indication that the mortgage market remained steady and resilient in the final months of 2019, even in the lead up to a General Election.
"At Legal & General Mortgage Club, we also saw a strong end to the year with a record number of completions for December, and with a reduction in political uncertainty we anticipate the wider mortgage market will enjoy further growth in the early part of 2020."
