In London, the average homeowner who first bought in 1999 and has moved up the ladder twice will have spent over £38,000 on Stamp Duty over this period.

Altogether, homebuyers in England and Wales have spent £7.7 billion on Stamp Duty during the last year.

However, reforms to the tax introduced in December have seen the average bill for a ‘third stepper’ drop by £2,500 (26%) in the last year.

The total Stamp Duty revenue raised in England and Wales in the last 12 months now exceeds the £6.2bn receipts received in the year to March 2008, at the peak of the last housing boom.

By comparison, in the 12 months to March 1999, less than £1bn was raised.

Stamp Duty accounts for 23% of all moving costs and Nitesh Patel, housing economist at Lloyds Bank, said the reforms to the market had been welcomed by homeowners.

“The average homebuyer now pays almost £10,000 during their life as they make their way up the housing ladder,” he said.

“The welcome reforms to Stamp Duty announced by the Chancellor last December have helped to reduce Stamp Duty bills for the overwhelming majority of homebuyers and movers. However, as these figures show, the overall revenue raised with stamp duty actually increased by £1.5 billion in the year to March 2015.”

The proportion of first-time buyers paying Stamp Duty has risen from 32% in May 1999 to 66% today, the bank added.