There were 101,170 housing transactions in the UK in January, HMRC has reported.

The figure, on a seasonally adjusted basis, was up by 0.8% on the previous month and by 1.3% on January last year.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis there were some 80,000 transactions, around 0.9% higher than in January last year.

Richard Donnell, research director at Zoopla, said: “The background for housing sales remains broadly positive with employment levels hitting record highs, continued low mortgage rates and growth in first-time buyer numbers.

“Market forces have impacted sales volumes in south-eastern England and this is acting as a drag on overall residential transaction volumes.

“The annual increase in property transactions is a reflection that, despite increased uncertainty, households continue to make decisions to buy and sell property.

“Our analysis shows mortgaged home owners accounting for 71% of sales, up from 61% in 2015 when investors and cash buyers were more prolific.”