A RECORD number of Scottish first-time buyers took advantage of the lifting of stamp duty to get their foot on the property ladder by buying higher-priced homes, new research has found.

A study by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) found that when rules were relaxed during the first three months of 2012, more people than ever before bought properties in the £125,000-£250,000 bracket while it was exempt from the tax.

According to the report, 38% of people buying their first homes bought higher-priced houses, an increase of 3% on the average recorded since 2005.

The CML findings fly in the face of a decision by Chancellor George Osborne to end the stamp duty exemption in March this year, after he decided it was "ineffective" in helping people buy first homes.

There were 4000 loans, worth £380 million, taken out by first-time buyers in Scotland in the first three months, while first-time buyers accounted for 42% of the house purchase loans in Scotland.

The CML predicts a drop in the number of homes changing hands following the end of the tax break.

Iain Malloch, chairman of CML Scotland, said: "Despite the fall in lending in Scotland in the first quarter of the year, the end of the stamp duty concession clearly had an effect on the market."