The level at which the 1% purchase tax has to be paid is to be increased from £125,000, from Wednesday 3rd September.
The £600m move - which applies to residential property - will save someone buying a £175,000 house £1,750.
The government estimates half of all property transactions will now be exempt from stamp duty. Previously one in three transactions did not attract any tax when the threshold was £125,000.
The move was welcomed by Britain's biggest mortgage lender Halifax. A spokeswoman said: "This is a sensible measure and it will help the housing market."
Other measures aimed at boosting the housing market include "free" loans of up to 30% for first time buyers in England.
Households earning less than £60,000 will be offered loans free of charge for five years on new properties, co-funded by the state and developers.
The loans system, called HomeBuy Direct, is to be run together with "large scale" property firms.
Once the five-year "free" period is up, homebuyers will be asked to pay a fee, the Department for Communities and Local Government said - although no more detail of this was provided.
“Excerpt taken from BBC News website 2nd September 2008”
