A rush to beat the end of the stamp-duty concession saw a big rise in loans made to house buyers in December, says the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

There were 62,800 such loans, up by 23% from November and 90% higher than in December 2008.

The number of loans made to first-time buyers also jumped in December, by 26% from November, to 24,900, which was the largest number since November 2007.

The stamp duty threshold dropped back to £125,000 on 1 January.

The government concession, which had temporarily pushed the threshold up to £175,000, had been aimed at halting the rapid slump in the property market.

"55% of house purchase loans were on properties costing under £175,000 and therefore exempt from stamp duty, up from 51% in November," the CML said.

"This clearly indicates a rush to complete purchases before January, when stamp duty would have added an additional 1% of the purchase price onto the transaction costs," it added.

Source: BBC News