Homebuyers spent almost £3bn on stamp duty in the last three months of 2021, which is more than any other quarter on record, thanks to strong demand for property during the tail end of last year.

The record £2.95bn in stamp duty receipts, published on Friday, came in spite of some property purchasers having rushed to complete their acquisition in the previous quarter to take advantage of savings prior to the end of the holiday.

Transaction levels in Q4 2021 were 10% on the previous three months and 13% down on the corresponding quarter in 2020.

According to Savills, 73,000 home sales once again incurred the tax after stamp duty holiday ended, which is up 66% compared with a year earlier.

Lucian Cook, Savills residential research director, said: “Recent residential receipts have been supported by strong activity at the top end of the market.”

The number of residential properties priced at £1m-plus was 36% higher than in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Cook added: “Transaction levels have stood up much more strongly in the higher price bands where people have been perhaps less concerned about the cost of living squeeze or the prospect of interest rates rising and where they’ve probably had a bit more equity at their disposal to continue to act on that desire to find more space.”

The recent rise in property prices has been another factor, as reflected by the latest Halifax House Price Index, released this morning. The growth in property prices has pushed more homes into higher brackets of stamp duty.