MORTGAGE lenders have reported that last month was their strongest December since 2007 amid improving consumer confidence and a broadening choice of competitive home loans. An estimated £17 billion worth of mortgages were handed out last month, surging by 49 per cent on the same period a year ago when £11.4bn worth of loans were advanced. It was also the highest total for a December month since 2007, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said. The latest mortgage lending estimate brings the total for the whole of 2013 to £177bn, jumping from £143bn recorded in 2012 and representing the strongest year banks and building societies have seen since 2008, when £254bn worth of mortgages were handed out. The CML said lending had been "stronger than expected" at the end of 2013.