SCOTLAND has suffered the largest fall in sales of top end properties anywhere in Britain, after deals for homes worth upwards of £1 million fell by more than a third.

In the first six months of 2017, 53 houses in this price tag were sold north of the border — down by 35 per cent from the same period last year.

This continues a decline in prime property sales, with 120 sold in the same period in Scotland in 2015. Across Britain as a whole, sales were down by just one per cent, falling from 6684 to 6613, research by the Bank of Scotland showed.

Edinburgh saw the biggest fall in million-pound homes sales in Scotland, with 19 (38 per cent) fewer deals in the first six months of 2017 compared to the same period last year.

But the capital accounts for more than half of £1 million property sales in Scotland, with 31 transactions recorded.

Under the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, which replaced Stamp Duty in Scotland, a charge of 12 per cent is applied on sales of homes worth more than £750,000.

According to estate agents, who have criticised the LBTT scheme, this means a £1.2 million house in Scotland would be taxed at £102,350, compared to £63,750 in England.

Carl Warden, senior associate at Bell Ingram estate agents, said last month that the Scottish system had “stunted the performance of the property market for those higher value transactions”.

Only five out of 12 local authority districts in Scotland saw an increase in sales of million pound homes in 2017 compared to 2016. East Dunbartonshire recorded three sales during the period, compared to none a year earlier.

Other areas with modest increases include Perth and Kinross, Dundee City, Highlands and Midlothian. East Lothian and Glasgow City are the two areas with the next highest number of million pound property sales from this market segment and saw no change from this time last year, both accounting for 8 per cent of Scottish sales.

Donald Gateley, Bank of Scotland’s head of private banking for Scotland, said: “Whilst sales of million-pound properties across Great Britain have experienced a small dip, this has been more acute in Scotland due to fewer homes in this category.

“There are a number of factors at play here, with uncertainty in the market, interest rates and economic stability all having a bearing on people’s appetite to buy and sell high-end properties. With the Office for Budget Responsibility revising down forecasts for house prices and housing transactions, we expect this slowing to continue in Scotland into the new year.”

“We would always urge anyone to seek advice about the appropriate options available to them.”

The drop in Scotland contrasts with the 55 per cent increase in sales of £1 million properties seen in north west England.

Yorkshire and the Humber experienced a rise of 45 per cent and in the West Midlands there was a 33 per cent jump.

The research looked at figures from the Land Registry covering England and Wales and the Registers of Scotland.

Wales saw sales of £1 million-plus properties fall by 31 per cent — from 13 in the first six months of 2016 to nine in the first half of 2017.

And London, where sales of £1 million-plus homes tend to be concentrated, saw transactions in this bracket drop by 7 per cent, from 4230 to 3940.