The UK Chancellor George Osborne should ‘pause’ the housing tax at the top end of the market or risk distorting the wider market it is claimed in a new analysis report.

Up to a 100% rise in stamp duty on luxury homes has seen buyer interest drop at a time when there has been a 40% rise in prime properties planned in London, according to the report from design and consultancy firm Arcadis.

It points out that the unintended consequences of successive stamp duty rises means projects in development for a number of years have been disproportionately affected and the delivery of affordable homes could be threatened as a result.

Despite initially encouraging investment in prime residential property as a means of stimulating wider economic growth, the government has since changed policies mid-cycle, the report suggests.

It says that this is regardless of the fact that many developers have already committed to major schemes. Since the end of 2014, the stamp duty alone on a £6m home has almost doubled, rising from £420,000 to £810,000 when bought as a second property. The timing of these reforms has come just when certain parts of the market had already begun to slow.