First-time house buyers rise by 22%

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The number of first-time buyers grew by around one fifth in 2013, marking the strongest annual increase in more than a decade.

There were around 265,000 first-time buyers in the UK in 2013, showing the highest annual total since 2007 and lifting by 22% from an estimated 218,000 in 2012, according to Halifax, which used a combination of Council of Mortgage Lenders' figures and its own to make its findings.