The average price of a house across the UK has hit £250,000 for the first time, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the figure was reached at the end of 2013. The news suggests that tens of thousands more buyers will be paying stamp duty at the 3% rate, which starts at the £250,000 threshold.

However other measures, such as those produced by the Halifax and the Nationwide, suggest prices are lower. Their latest price indices put average prices at about £175,000.

Overall, the ONS said, house prices were now 1.6% higher than in the pre-financial crisis peak in January 2008. Its figures, based on the number of mortgage completions, show that house price inflation in 2013 was 5.5%.

The Nationwide has estimated that prices rose by 8.4% last year.

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said the figures would "maintain concern that a housing bubble could really develop in 2014". He is forecasting that house prices will rise by 8% across the UK in 2014.