There were 1,792 new agreements for second charge mortgage lending in December, up 13% year-on-year, the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) has found.

The were 6,389 new agreements in the three months to December, up 18% year-on-year and 23,529 in the 12 months to December, an increase of 7% year-on-year.

The value of new second charge business was £80m in December, up 6% year-on-year while the value was £283m in the three months to December, a 16% increase from the previous year.

Fiona Hoyle, head of consumer and mortgage finance at the FLA, said: “December saw the market report its sixth consecutive month of growth, contributing to solid single-digit new business growth in 2018 as a whole.

“The second charge mortgage market is expected to see further single-digit new business growth in 2019 overall.”