Many more people are being forced to pay stamp duty as the average UK house price continues to rise.

Research from Portman Building Society revealed that the amount of stamp duty paid in the second quarter of 2006 has increased by six per cent per property– meaning the average homeowner now pays a total of £3,735 in stamp duty.

Even though the government increased the stamp duty threshold in March from £120,000 to £125,000 it appears that many more people are subjected to the tax because of the ongoing growth of the housing market.

In addition, the amount of revenue being raised by the tax is rising steeply, with the total stamp duty paid in the second quarter equalling £1,002 billion, - £229 million more than during the first three months of the year.

Portman's Matthew Wyles described stamp duty as a "deeply unfair tax" and added: tax as "deeply unfair".

He added: "The burden of this tax will continue to increase unless the government undertakes a radical alteration to its policy in this area and abandons its current strategy of making the occasional cosmetic tweak to the threshold to keep criticism at bay."