Alistair Darling rejected a third request for an immediate meeting with estate agents as tension grew over suggestions to lift stamp duty.

Whitehall sources told The Times yesterday that there was increasing irritation within the Treasury over the fallout of the stamp duty proposal, which Mr Darling and department aides have been left to field. The Chancellor has “no immediate plans” to meet the National Association of Estate Agents despite repeated attempts by the group's chief executive to meet him and Caroline Flint, the Housing Minister.

Peter Bolton-King said that he had written to the Chancellor for the third time, enclosing details of a survey his organisation carried out that showed one in four estate agents had seen agreed house sales fall through as a direct result of the uncertainty.

He told the Chancellor: “I fully appreciate that you are considering a range of options and wanted to wait until the Pre-Budget Statement. However, our survey is very worrying and the housing market is now going downhill so fast that urgent action needs to be taken. Amongst other things, a more confident market clearly helps those who are in danger of being repossessed.”

But in a sign of a growing rift between Mr Darling and No 10 over the issue, Treasury aides said that the Chancellor was adamant that he was not going to be pushed into taking any action on stamp duty.

“At the end of the day, the Treasury did not brief this story so we did not cause this problem,” one aide said.

Last week the Chancellor refused to rule out that he planned temporarily to suspend stamp duty in an attempt to stimulate the stagnant housing market. Whitehall sources suspect that Downing Street, desperate to get out some good news to give a boost to Gordon Brown's battered reputation, floated the story last week. A spokesman for Downing Street insisted last night that that was not the case.

Mr Brown is also considering a one-off windfall payment, of up to £150, for parents struggling to pay fuel bills this winter. The move, which officials emphasised had not yet been given final approval, would help more than seven million families in receipt of child benefit. In the past, winter fuel payments have been made only to the over-60s, who will receive about £250 this year.

Sir Brian Bender, Permanent Secretary to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, was overheard discussing the plans in front of fellow passengers on a GNER train between Leeds and London.

A spokesman for the department said yesterday: “The protection of those least able to heat their homes is a priority for the Government. We will continue to work with energy companies, amongst others, on measures to help the most vulnerable to reduce the amount of energy they use and to lower their bills.”

The Prime Minister hopes that the economic package will help to revive his fortunes in the face of plummeting poll ratings and growing discontent within his Cabinet.

Trade unions and a coalition of MPs have privately anointed a “dream ticket” of Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, and Jon Cruddas, who came third in the deputy leadership race last year, to run for the leadership should a vacancy arise. The plan is seen as a defence against any move by David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, to mount a leadership bid.