In March, the second charge mortgage market reported its highest level (31 per cent) of monthly new business volumes since October 2008, new data published by the Finance & Leasing Association (FLA) revealed.

The value of new business has also grown significantly by 25 per cent when compared to March 2018, reaching £108m. In the three months to March 2019, the value of new deals written reached £292m, representing year-on-year growth of 19 per cent. Within this period, the number of new agreements also increased substantially by 25 per cent over the same period last year.

Commenting on the statistics, FLA head of consumer and mortgage finance Fiona Hoyle said: “It is a competitive and innovative market for consumers, with a growing number of broker partners.”

Looking at consumer finance overall, the figures published by the FLA revealed that, while second charge mortgage business was up, consumer finance new business actually fell by 2 per cent in March when compared to the same month last year.

Despite this, over the quarter, new business remained at a similar level to Q1 2018.

Retail stone and online credit new business increased by 4 per cent in March, compared with the same month in 2018, with £745m worth of credit issued in the month. Credit card and personal loan new business, on the other hand, fell by 5 per cent year-on-year, with just over £4.1bn lent in March.

FLA head of research and chief economist Geraldine Kilkelly said: “The consumer finance market reported new business stable in Q1 2019, with modest growth in retail store and online credit reflecting the growth in retail sales over the same period.

“Single-digit new business growth is expected in 2019 as a whole as consumers remain relatively confident about the outlook for their personal finances.”

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