UK house prices shot up by 6.8% in January this year, compared to 12 months earlier.

Average house prices now stand at £254,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.

This means that there is a huge gap, of £85,644, between the Government’s two “official” house price indices.

Despite pronounced regional differences, if the ONS data is correct, it means that the bulk of transactions in England are now being drawn into the 3% Stamp Duty tax band.

House prices grew by 7.1% in England to reach £264,000, 6.9% in Wales to reach £166,000, 1.4% in Scotland to stand at £183,000, and 2.7% in Northern Ireland to reach £132,000.

In London, the average house price was £458,000 and in the north east, it was £147,000. London, the south east and east of England all had house prices higher than the UK average.

The London market, where prices rose 13.2% annually,  drove much of the increase. Taking London out of the equation, the average UK annual rise was 3.8%.

The ONS data shows that first-time buyers were paying 7.6% more than in January 2013, at £190,000.

New home owners paid less, at £238,000, than those moving into pre-owned homes, at £255,000.

All the ONS prices – based on a regulated mortgage survey – are higher than Land Registry prices, which include cash as well as mortgage-backed transactions, although not new homes.

The Land Registry quoted an average price of £168,356 across England and Wales for January.

The Treasury’s take from Stamp Duty Land Tax shot up 31% in the year to February, according to HMRC. This was despite a much smaller rise, of 19%, in transactions.