JUST 147 homes in Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle and Rossendale sold for more than £250,000 in one year.

New figures show in the five East Lancashire boroughs, less than five per cent of house sales in 2012/13 came into the higher three per cent rate of stamp duty.

In Ribble Valley, 166 domestic properties (23 per cent of the total) broke the quarter of a million barrier, while in Chorley it was 198 or 12 per cent.

In the North West as whole, 7,571 homes sold for more than £250,000 in 2012/2013 – nine per cent of the total.

This compares with the south east of England where 48,419 homes sold for more than a quarter of a million pounds, 39 per cent of the total domestic property sales and some London boroughs saw nearly 90 per cent of homes sold in the higher stamp duty rate.

The figures, from the Taxpayers’ Alliance, come as Blackburn with Darwen council presses ahead with controversial plans to build 4,000 luxury rural homes on greenfield sites and Ribble Valley fights to stop its villages being swamped by high-value housing developments.

Burnley Council’s regeneration director Mike Cook said: “The council is doing everything it can to make Burnley a place to invest in and live.

“Faster direct rail links to Manchester and the wider regeneration of the Weavers’ Triangle will make our borough a more attractive place to live and work and boost demand for housing across the board.”

Hyndburn borough leader Miles Parkinson said: “These figures show clearly why Hyndburn and other East Lancashire boroughs want to build more high-value homes to attract businessmen to live and invest here. We want to see people buying their first terrace house in Hyndburn knowing they can move up the property scale to high-value detached homes, staying in the area and enjoying fabulous views of East Lancashire countryside.”

Blackburn with Darwen regeneration director Brian Bailey said: “We are aware of the pressure on Ribble Valley for executive homes. The proposed sites are offering high class properties with fine country views.”

Matthew Sinclair from the Taxpayers’ Alliance said: “Ministers have done nothing to ease the burden imposed by stamp duty, which is an unfair double tax that gets in the way of would-be first-time buyers and others thinking about moving.”