Since the millennium the cost of moving on the highest rungs of the property ladder have increased threefold, a new report has suggested.

Since the millennium the cost of moving on the highest rungs of the property ladder have increased threefold, a new report has suggested.

Research by property firm Woolwich showed that whereas in 2000 it cost £4,535 to move from an average semi-detached house to a detached home, today the same move would cost £12,535.

Similar increases were not present for less expensive properties, however, with the cost of moving up from £3,333 to only £5,304 in England and Wales.

"It’s at the top end of the market that people are getting unsettled by headline numbers like £25,000 to move up from a semi to a detached," said Woolwich's head of mortgages, Andy Gray.

"At these levels people are thinking seriously about extending or converting a basement or loft which can be more cost effective than moving."

Much of the increase at the top end of the market has been attributed to rising house prices taking more expensive properties above the three per cent threshold for the progressive stamp duty tax.

Figures for the last year comparing house price moving costs showed a small decrease of 0.4 per cent.