Last year’s change to the stamp duty threshold has failed to save British homebuyers money as the government received £60 million more in stamp duty this year, despite a fall in house prices.

Original research from Portman Building Society has revealed that in the nine months following the rise in the exemption threshold in April 2005, from £60,000 to £120,000, British home owners have collectively paid more stamp duty than in the nine months preceding the change.

Using sales data from the Land Registry, Portman has calculated that the total stamp duty paid in first nine months of the new regime (March 2005- December 2005) is £2.55 billion, £57.2 million more than in the last nine months of the old regime. This rise was also despite a fall in house sales over the two periods from 782,730 to 737,134.

This indicates that British home owners are now paying an average of £3,459 in stamp duty per property purchased compared to £3,184 before the change; a 9% increase. This increase, while not yet confirmed by the government, is hardly surprising since the average house price in the UK is now £199,051, some £79,000 more than the new threshold.

Many first-time buyers still losing out

While the threshold increase has undoubtedly helped some first-time buyers avoid paying stamp duty, the fact that the average first time buyer property now costs £146,267 (over £26,000 more than the threshold level) suggests that the change has not been any help to the majority of this very important class of home buyer.

Matthew Wyles, group development director, at Portman Building Society, commented: "Despite government assurances that a rise in the stamp duty threshold would benefit the first time buyer, they appear to be sucking in more revenue than ever before."

"Stamp duty is a deeply unfair tax especially for those least able to pay it – that is first-time buyers. The average first-time buyer property costs over £26,000 more than the stamp duty threshold of £120,000. The raising of the threshold was a purely cosmetic exercise."