By Norma Cohen, Property Correspondent

The implications of the latest rise in stamp duty are far more significant for commercial property investors. While relatively few UK homes are valued at more than £500,000, almost all commercial property transactions fall into that category.

James Thornton, head of Savills Fund Management, said: "It is gnawing away at the attractions of property as an asset class for pension funds. A property has to rise by 5 per cent just to recoup transaction costs."

He said that brokers' fees added a further 1 per cent to costs.

However, the value of both residential and commercial property in the UK has continued to rise strongly, suggesting that tax plays a little role in either homebuying or investment decisions.

There was also disappointment about what the chancellor did not say in his Budget message.

"There was nothing about the securitisation of property vehicles," said Angus Johnston, head of the UK real estate tax practice at PwC, the accountants.

The UK property industry has been lobbying hard for some form of quoted, tax-transparent property vehicle that would offer the liquidity and transparency of a quoted property company but with the tax treatment available to investors in direct property.

Industry officials said Treasury officials had hinted strongly in pre-Budget meetings that they were considering some merits in such a scheme, which is available to investors in the US, the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia.

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