The amount of money the government is raising by taxing home buyers has increased more than nine-fold in the last decade, according to figures from the Halifax.

The escalation in house prices means the government will now take over £4.3bn in stamp duty during the current tax year. In 1993-4 the figure was £465m.

A survey conducted for Halifax by NOP found that 81% of people in the UK think that the current stamp duty regime is unfair on first-time buyers. 70% believe that the government should adjust the stamp duty threshold to bring it in line with the increase in house prices.

Halifax research also shows that the average first-time buyer in all of the UK's 12 regions now pays stamp duty. This contrasts with 1993 when only the average first-time buyer in London paid stamp duty.

The number of towns where the average house price paid by a first-time buyer is above the £60,000 stamp duty threshold has risen from 13% of all towns surveyed in 1994 to 98% in 2004.

More homeowners are paying the higher rates of stamp duty, which were introduced in 1997, when there were no towns with an average house price above £250,000 – the starting point for higher rates. In 2004, the average property price exceeded £250,000 in 16% of the towns surveyed.

The proportion of sales in the UK above the £250,000 threshold has risen from 3% in 1999 to 14% in 2004.

Towns with the highest proportion of sales above the £250,000 threshold are: Gerrards Cross (85%), Teddington (77%), Harpenden (74%), Richmond-upon-Thames (71%), Leatherhead and Weybridge (both 67%). Knutsford in Cheshire has the highest proportion (46%) outside the south of England.

The Exchequer now generates more revenue from residential stamp duty than from either capital gains tax or petroleum revenue tax.