The flow of lending for home buying in the UK picked up slightly in March from February, with a rising proportion of first time buyers entering the market, although the overall level of housing activity remains substantially below that in 2008.

Data released on Thursday from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed that 31,000 loans for house purchases were made in March, up from only 24,000 in each of January and February, but 33 per cent below the levels of March 2008, when housing activity was already subdued with house prices falling.