First-time buyers are rushing out to take advantage of the final few months of the stamp duty holiday.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) the number of people buying their first property rose by three per cent in November and December and the figure is set to rise further before the stamp duty exemption ends next month.

At present all people buying a home for the first time are not required to pay the duty on transactions of less than £250,000, but that scheme will expire on March 24th.

From that point onwards, all purchases between £125,000 and £250,000 will levy a stamp duty charge of one per cent. Above the £250,000 the current duty rates will continue to apply (Three per cent for £250,001 – £500,000, four per cent for £500,001 - £1 million and five per cent over £1 million).

Paul Smee, CML director general, said: “We have been expecting a flow of first-time buyers onto the market as the stamp duty exemption ends in March and December’s figures appear to show this has now begun.

“The market in 2011, while still subdued, saw a welcome increase in annual gross lending for the first time since 2007, when the financial crisis began.”