The stamp duty surcharge – which across the rest of Britain is currently three per cent on additional homes such as buy to lets and holiday properties – is rising to four per cent in Scotland from January 25.

Formally speaking it’s not stamp duty at all in Scotland, because the duty was scrapped in 2016 and replaced by the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, but although the thresholds for LBTT differ from those which existed for stamp duty, the effect is much the same.

The Additional Dwelling Supplement – the Scottish Government’s name for its version of the stamp duty surcharge on additional homes – was introduced on April 1 2016.

The Scottish Government says the hike is part of its measures to help first-time buyers and those moving up the property ladder. 

It forecasts the tax revenue raised from increasing the rate of ADS will be £2.3m in 2018/19, rising to £25.4m in 2019/20.

The Scottish Government insists that even with the new higher rate of LBTT for additional home purchasers, some 80 per cent of residential property bought in Scotland attracts lower LBTT than the equivalent Stamp Duty in the rest of the UK.