Consumers are regaining their appetite to take out personal loans in signs of growing optimism about their own financial situation, banks have reported.

Net borrowing using personal loans and overdrafts has seen a 2.6% increase over the last year following a long period of declines, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) said in its report for August.

But its latest figures also show that the number of home buyer mortgages getting the green light has fallen to a 12-month low.

Personal loans are often used to help people splash out on a "big ticket" purchase such as a new car or a major home renovation.

Net annual growth in personal loan and overdraft borrowing has been following a general upward trend since March. Before that time, it had been annual falls since 2009 as the effects of the financial downturn were felt.

Some £8.3 billion of new spending was recorded on credit cards in August, although this was matched by £8.3 billion of repayments on plastic.

Meanwhile, 41,588 mortgages worth a total of £6.7 billion were approved for house purchase in August, marking the lowest number of approvals since August last year.

New mortgage lending is 15% higher than it was a year ago, and approvals for house purchase are running at 5% above the levels seen last August, but year-on-year increases have been slowing recently, reflecting signs of moderating housing market activity, the BBA said.

David Dooks, statistics director at the BBA, said: "When customers feel more optimistic about the economic outlook they are much more likely to take on new borrowing.

"Today's figures show that mortgage lending in August was up 15% on last year and that credit card spending remains robust. But I was particularly struck that after years of decline, demand for unsecured personal loans is rising quite strongly again.

"Those products are often used to finance bigger purchases such as cars or major home improvements - the sort of spending we often put off until we feel confident about our financial circumstances."

Savers are also ploughing less into tax-free Isas than they were last year, despite a relaxation of the rules around Isas, enabling people to stash away more cash if they want to.

Total inflows into Isas have reached £9.3 billion so far, down from £11 billion over the same period last year, the BBA said.

Financial information website Moneyfacts said last week that the average interest paid across the Isa range pays savers a "miserable" 1.53% as opposed to 1.66% last year.

Rule changes in July mean that people can now save up to £15,000 a year into Isas, putting their money into cash, stocks and shares or a combination of the two.

The BBA's figures show that borrowing by non-financial businesses saw a £8.9 billion decline in the year to August. The BBA said much of this fall was within the real estate sector, while the manufacturing, wholesale and retail sectors are seeing "positive and sustained growth".

There have been signs of some disruption to the mortgage market following the introduction of stricter lending rules under the Mortgage Market Review (MMR) in April, which force lenders to probe mortgage applicants in more detail about their spending habits.

The BBA said that the implementation of the MMR rules had a temporary impact on the market, and the recent approval figures suggest a "stable overall picture".

With house prices already at record highs in several parts of the UK, according to recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, experts have suggested that some home buyers are reaching the limits of what they can afford to pay and that they are also considering how their mortgage debt will be impacted by an eventual rise in the Bank of England base rate from its historic 0.5% low.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, expects house prices to increase at a more moderate pace of around 6% across next year.

He said: "Slowly rising interest rates, more stretched affordability ratios due to the marked rise in house prices and tighter mortgage lending ... are seen having some restraint on the housing market in 2015."