Nationwide Building Society is calling for reform of the Stamp Duty Land Tax system.

The UK’s largest building society is urging the Treasury to consider reforms to Stamp Duty including raising thresholds to better reflect house price inflation and to stimulate market activity.

Graham Beale, Nationwide’s chief executive, said: “Stamp Duty now impacts tens of thousands of people every year, incurring a bill of almost £2,000 for those buying a home at the UK average price of £190,000, with the cost increasing threefold for properties costing more than £250,000.

“Our own figures demonstrate the distortion that the current slab thresholds create and highlight the fact that a sale price even £1 over each threshold can result in a hugely inflated bill. This additional cost may even be discouraging some from moving altogether.

“That’s why I have called on the Chancellor to review the current system. We need Stamp Duty thresholds increased to better reflect rising house prices, as well as the introduction of an escalator so that those thresholds continue to adjust automatically in the future. This would make Stamp Duty clearer and fairer for everyone.”