Homebuyers will pay £3.4 billion more in stamp duty bills.

Mortgage lenders said that the rise would make it more difficult for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder and tax experts said it would stop people moving to find jobs. The Opposition accused Gordon Brown of using the tax system to soak homebuyers.

The Treasury expects its take from stamp duty to increase from £10.9 billion in 2005-06 to £14.3 billion in 2007-08. Most of the increase results from the Chancellor deciding to freeze stamp-duty thresholds despite rapidly rising house prices, meaning many more house-buyers will fall into the stamp-duty bracket, and more of them will have to pay at a higher rate.

Stamp duty is imposed at 1 per cent for properties over £125,000, 3 per cent for those over £250,000 and 4 per cent for those over £500,000. If Mr Brown had increased the upper bands in line with house prices since 1997, they would be £687,000 and £1.375 million.

A Treasury spokesman said: “It is misleading to suggest we have increased stamp duty in the budget — in fact there has been no change.”

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