Average first-time buyers are paying almost £1,700 in stamp duty on their first property purchase according to a market monitoring report.

Average first-time buyers are paying almost £1,700 in stamp duty on their first property purchase according to a market monitoring report.

Comparison site Moneyextra believes that the government's decision to lower the threshold at which stamp duty is paid has not helped the majority of first-time buyers, having estimated that the average first home bought on its site last month was worth £169,182.

In his budget last year, the chancellor doubled the nil rate stamp duty band from £60,000 to £120,000.

Properties bought between £120,001 and £250,000 incur a stamp duty tax penalty of one per cent of the whole value.

The group estimates that investment in an average priced property would cost those trying to get onto the property ladder £1,691.82.

Moneyextra's Robin Amlot said: "Gordon Brown could put thousands of pounds back into the pockets of hard-pressed first-time buyers at the same time – but the chances are he won't."