With the rapid rise of British property prices, about 25% of all house purchasers have to pay stamp duty of 3% or more.
Ten years ago, only 10% fell into this category.
The upshot is that the UK government is raking in near-record amounts of stamp duty despite far fewer houses having been bought.
In the year to October 2007 there were 1.68m property sales, while 1.19m homes were sold in the year to June 2014.
Estimates from the Office of Budget Responsibility suggest a significant increase in the tax take from property by the end of the decade.
Stamp duty revenues are forecast to rise from £6.9bn in the 2012/13 tax year to £18.1bn by 2018/19.
Stamp duty starts at 1% on sales between £125,000 and £250,000, then 3% on sales of up to £500,000, 4% on houses up to £1 million, 5% for property up to £2 million, and finally 7% for values over £2 million.
Homes costing in excess of £250,000 made up 25% of all property sales in 2013, up from 10% in 2003. The tax burden is hitting hardest on property in London and the south of England where even modest houses have landed in the higher tax brackets.
The tax was initially set to charge the wealthiest segments of society, but has now swept the middle class into its embrace.
“We estimate that London contributed around 42% of the total stamp duty paid on residential properties in 2013/14, even though the capital only accounted for 15% of house purchase transactions," said Nationwide's chief economist Robert Gardner.
Conservative MPs plan to challenge the government over stamp duty levels with a back-bench debate in Parliament in September.
