The proportion of British adults claiming they want to move from renting to buying their next home has more than doubled over the course of 2018, increasing from 24% to 58%, new data has revealed.

The research from AA Financial Services indicated that whilst the majority of Brits planning to move has largely remained unchanged (at around 12%) over the past year, the percentage of movers that want to purchase a home has rocketed.

The findings come shortly after Chancellor Philip Hammond announced in his Budget that the government is realising the pressing need to support more people in getting on to the property ladder, and to increase housing supply.

During his announcement, Hammond reported that first time buyers’ will be given relief for those purchasing shared equity homes, while the government will also commit a £500m injection for the Housing Infrastructure Fund, enabling a further 650,000 homes to be built.

Furthermore, the amount of money that buyers are planning to spend on their next home has increased, hitting a twelve-month high of £332,000 this month, a 9% rise over six months and the first significant quarter-on-quarter rise since January 2018.

The research suggested that this increase has been driven by movers in London and the South East, with the planned amount being spent on a home in London rising from £410,840 to £544,957 since the start of 2018, while in the South East the figure increased to £406,478 from £396,571.

However, the planned amount being spent in the North East actually dropped, with movers intending on spending an average of £263,264 on their next home, compared to £319,490 at the beginning of the year.

Commenting on the findings, AA director of financial services David Searle said: “The economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit has not seriously dampened people’s plans to move home. The simple reason is that, for most people, decisions on when to move are dictated by job change, being closer to family or the needs of children.

“Unlike many studies that look back at historic data on property transactions, our study looks forward and focuses on the demand for property. Movers are preparing to spend more on buying a home – and it doesn’t end there.”

Searle concluded that, in the lead up to Christmas and the end of the year, homeowners are set to borrow £12bn to fund home improvement projects.

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