HOMEBUYERS paid a record £5.5bn in stamp duty last year. The Chancellor's money-spinning stealth tax has soared by nearly 50% in a year, with buyers in the South East of England bearing the brunt.

When Labour came to power in 1997, the tax on buying a house raised £675m. Gordon Brown's decision to raise stamp duty rates four times in four years means it is now worth more than eight times this amount.

For the first time, homebuyers in two parts of England paid more than £1bn in stamp duty in a year.

Londoners were charged a record £1.3bn in the 2004/2005 tax year, compared to just £165m in 1997. Those in the South-East paid £ 1.2bn, up from £150m eight years earlier.

Stamp duty has proved such a lucrative bonus for the Government because of massive house price inflation. A typical home is worth nearly £170,000, compared to £68,000 in 1997.

Stamp duty is charged at 1% on homes sold for £120,000 to £250,000, 3% between £250,000 and £500,000 and 4% above £500,000.

The starting level for stamp duty had been stuck at £60,000 for 12 years until Mr. Brown doubled it in his Budget last March.

Apart from that, the bands have not changed for five years while property prices have soared.

In 1996/97, the number of homebuyers who escaped stamp duty - 738,000 - was higher than the 607,000 who were liable to pay it. But by 2004/05, stamp duty was paid on 1.23m homes while just 478,000 escaped.