The Treasury took £1.3bn in the final month of the stamp duty holiday in September, taking the levy’s total revenues over the relief period, from last July to last month, to £13.5bn, according to HMRC data.

The stamp duty holiday meant home buyers didn’t have to pay stamp duty on the first £500,000 of purchase, falling to the first £250,000 from 1 July.

However, the nil-payment threshold returned to the pre-pandemic level of £125,000 from 1 October.

The relief was introduced by chancellor Rishi Sunak last July to kick-start the housing market, which had stalled due to pandemic restrictions.

HMRC says stamp duty receipts between last April and September are 66% higher than the previous year, with the levy so far raising £8.9bn this calendar year.

It says: “The higher receipts in June, July and September 2021 can be explained by higher numbers of transactions completed before the ending of the temporary reduced rates for stamp duty land tax on residential properties.”

Coventry Building Society head of intermediary relationships Jonathan Stinton says: “Stamp duty has remained very lucrative for the taxman, despite a large proportion of property purchases being exempt from it for the last 14 months.

“The demand for higher value homes, second homes and rental properties has kept stamp duty revenue at a very healthy level.”

The chancellor presents the government’s spending review and Budget next Wednesday (27 October), which will see the housing industry looking to see what levelling up, the move towards net zero, and ways to make homes more affordable, will mean for the sector.

Coventry’s Stinton adds: “With the Budget just a few weeks away, there’s a real opportunity for the government to reshape the stamp duty system.

“Easing the additional financial burden would make a huge difference to home buyers, not just those looking for their first home but for homeowners wanting to downsize.

“And reducing the extra cost of stamp duty for these homebuyers would mean a more stable and predictable property market.

“We also expect this to be a ‘green’ Budget, with a very heavy focus on environmental issues across the board.

“We think that the proposal from the Green Finance Institute should be seriously considered by the chancellor as part of his Budget plans, to encourage sellers to make green improvements to their properties, which would help reduce the impact of the housing market on the environment.