Mortgage lenders have reported their strongest August since 2008 with an estimated total of £18.6 billion handed out to borrowers last month.

But as it released the figures, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said lending activity appears to have reached a "plateau" and it could fall back in the coming months as borrowers' appetites start to wane amid stricter lending rules and signs that the London market is softening.

August's lending total is 5% lower than the overall value of loans advanced in July, which at £19.7 billion was the highest figure seen for any month since July 2008.

But last month's £18.6 billion total is still 13% above that for August last year. It is also the second highest monthly lending total recorded this year so far, with July being the highest.

The CML said last month's lending figure was "the highest lending total for an August since 2008," when £19.3 billion worth of loans were handed out.

The lending body recently revised its lending prediction for the whole of this year upwards, in the light of stronger than expected activity at the start of this year, following the full launch of the Government's flagship Help to Buy mortgage support scheme.

The CML now expects mortgage lending to top £200 billion this year, marking the first time this has happened since 2008.

However, the CML's chief economist Bob Pannell said today: "A gentle slowing of lending activity may now be in prospect, as a result of the continuing impact of tighter lending rules and a softening of the London market."

He continued: "Our figures indicate that lending activity has reached something of a plateau..

"Indeed, a number of indicators, especially those reflecting earlier stages of the house purchase or lending process, such as the Bank (of England's) house purchase approvals data, suggest that borrower appetite may be starting to wane."

Earlier this week, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that UK house prices leapt to a new all-time average high of £272,000 in July, as the average property value in London topped half a million pounds for the first time.

But in the last couple of months there has been mounting evidence of some of the strongest heat coming out of the London market, which experts have put down to strong price gains in the capital meaning potential buyers are reaching the top of what they can afford to pay, and speculation over the prospect of interest rates rising also making house hunters more "price sensitive", as they contemplate the prospect of their borrowing costs increasing.

Toughened mortgage lending rules also came into force in April, which according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), have helped to slow down the time it takes for a house sale to go through by up to a month, compared with the start of the year.

The new Mortgage Market Review (MMR) rules force lenders to probe mortgage applicants in more detail about their spending habits in order to make sure their finances are robust enough for them to comfortably afford their home loan repayments now and when interest rates eventually rise.

In Scotland, there have been reports from estate agents that the referendum on independence has prompted a slowdown in activity, with some buyers sitting it out in order to see what the outcome will be.

On the other hand, housing market activity could receive a fresh boost from a price war which has broken out between lenders over the last couple of weeks, with several five-year fixed-rate deals once again being slashed to rates of below 3%.

Falling swap rates, which lenders use to price their loans, have had a part to play in this and some lenders may also be motivated by trying to hit end-of-year targets, experts have suggested.

Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: " As we move into autumn, lenders have one eye on their year-end figures and are ramping up their lending volumes to meet them.

"Subsequently, there are some excellent fixed-rates available over two and five years so borrowers who are concerned about rate rises should act now to obtain some security."