Mortgage lending showed a slight rebound in April, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Some 50,700 loans to purchase homes were granted in April, a rise of 5,000 from the previous month and the highest level since December.

But the number was still 36% down compared with the same month in 2007 because of the credit crunch. An average first-time buyer put down a deposit of 13% of a property’s value and borrowed 3.3 times their income.

First-time buyers have felt the effects more than most, and the CML figures show that such borrowers have been asked to put down bigger deposits in recent years. The CML data shows that the 13% deposit of a property’s value put down by the average first-time buyer is the largest for more than three years.

This trend has been reinforced by the UK’s largest lender, the Halifax, which will increase the interest rate on its new three-year fixed-rate deal for customers who want to borrow between 75% and 90% of a property’s value from 13 June.

However, customers who need to borrow less than 75% by putting down a bigger deposit are being offered cheaper deals on tracker and fixed-rate mortgages.

The number of loans granted to first-time buyers did rise slightly in April compared with March, up 4% to 18,500, but this was still 36% lower than a year ago, the CML said.

Gross mortgage lending in the UK rose 8% in April to £26.1bn, from £24.1bn in March, after two consecutive months of decline.

The cost of borrowing to buy a house has been driven higher by a flurry of rate rises from some mortgage lenders.

At least 14 lenders have increased the cost of various fixed-rate deals during the past two days. Among them have been big names such as the Halifax, RBS, and Birmingham Midshires, as well as several small building societies.

Mortgage brokers Chase De Vere said the average cost of a two-year deal, for a 90% loan, had now risen to 6.75%.

Figures published at the end of last week by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that fixed-rate deals had become more popular than a couple of months ago.

In April they accounted for 59% of all new loans, the highest level seen this year.

The increased price of fixed-rate home loans since then has been driven by the increasing cost of borrowing the funds on the financial markets.

The CML warned that lenders needed not only to reflect their own higher borrowing costs, but to protect themselves in case house prices fell further. Therefore some lenders have been putting up the cost of mortgages for borrowers who can put down only a small deposit.

But those people who want to borrow 75% or less of their property’s value, and who are viewed as a much smaller risk to a lender, have, in some cases, seen the cost of new loans fall.

Last Wednesday, in a further example of lending criteria becoming tougher, the Abbey increased the cost of its remaining 95% mortgage, available for five years at 7.04%.