“The Stamp Duty cut is welcome in two ways. Firstly because its benefits are skewed toward first-time buyers, who are the ones being squeezed hardest by the mismatch between soaring house prices and average salaries that don’t come close to keeping up.

“Conventional wisdom is that if you can help more people onto the first rung of the property ladder, the benefits will ripple upwards across the market.

“The other reason to welcome today’s announcement is that it’s a permanent change to Stamp Duty, rather than a temporary, bubble-inducing holiday. Over time, the Investment Zones could trigger more housebuilding and inject extra energy into several regional markets, but this won’t happen overnight.”

However, Mr Hopper continued: “For all the smiles among estate agents today, no one should expect instant fireworks. With the Bank of England hiking interest rates again yesterday, mortgages are getting steadily more expensive – and mortgage costs and sentiment play a far bigger role than Stamp Duty in a would-be buyer’s decision-making process.

“That’s why the Chancellor’s announcement is like a gym cutting its joining fee but ramping up its monthly membership dues.

“It’s a headline-grabbing incentive, but with many buyers reassessing what they’re willing to pay in the face of a weakening economy, it won’t reverse the cooling of house price growth.”

Equally sceptical of the new legislation in conjunction with wider economic upheaval, Anthony Codling, CEO of property platform Twindig said: “The Chancellor’s mini-budget cut stamp duty today, not a holiday, nor a mini-break, but a permanent cut.