RESEARCH from the Halifax reveals a significant increase in the number of first-time buyers across the UK paying stamp duty.

First-time buyers have been particularly affected by the failure of successive governments since 1993 - both the past Conservative administration and the current Labour one - to increase the £60,000 threshold above which house buyers pay stamp duty. As a result, the average first-time buyer in six of the UK’s 12 economic regions now pays stamp duty compared to only one - London - in 1993.

The research’s main findings are:

• First-time buyers in six UK regions - West Midlands, East Anglia, South West, South East, Greater London and Northern Ireland - are now likely to pay stamp duty compared to only one - London - in 1993.

• In these regions, the stamp duty paid by a typical first-time buyer ranges from 2.8 per cent of annual average earnings in the West Midlands to five per cent in London.

• The average UK first-time buyer in 2001 paid £78,111 to buy their home compared to £45,249 in 1993. Based on the current stamp duty regime, the typical first-time buyer now has to pay £781. In 1993 the typical first-time buyer paid no stamp duty.