The availability of stamp duty-free homes from April 1 will plummet when the current stamp duty thresholds change.

Until April first-time buyers enjoy stamp duty exemption on purchases up to £425,000, while existing homeowners pay no stamp duty on properties up to £250,000.

From April, these thresholds will revert to £300,000 and £125,000 respectively.

Currently one third of properties for sale in England offer the possibility of a stamp duty-free purchase for existing owners. But this will drop to fewer than one in 10.

Online agency Yopa analysed current property listings across England to find the number of homes currently eligible for stamp duty-free purchases for both first-time buyers and existing homeowners.

It then assessed how this would change following the April 1 reversion of stamp duty relief thresholds to previous levels.

Some 64% of current listings, or 253,287 homes, are priced at £425,000 or below, offering first-time buyers the opportunity for a stamp duty-free purchase.

But this drops to 44% after April 1, with only 173,547 homes priced at £300,000 or below.

The impact on existing homeowners is more severe.

Currently, 33% of listed homes are £250,000 or below, allowing existing buyers to avoid stamp duty. After April 1, this proportion will fall to just 8%.

London will be badly hit as there are now  31% of listed homes offering stamp duty-free purchases but this will fall to just 13%.

Yopa chief executive Verona Frankish says: “So, whilst this will mean that many homebuyers are forced to save even more to cover the cost of stamp duty, we’re also likely to see extremely high demand for the properties that remain under the reverted stamp duty thresholds.

“This means that those still hopeful of a stamp duty free purchase are likely to face fierce competition and this heightened demand will inevitably drive-up prices in these price thresholds.”