Booming house prices have put hundreds of thousands more homeowners into the inheritance tax bracket.
Halifax Financial Services said the estates of an estimated 2.4 million people are now liable for the 40pc tax when they die.
Halifax said a house price growth of 12pc had "significantly outstripped" the 3.1pc rise in the inheritance tax threshold to £263,000.
London has the highest concentration of properties valued above the threshold. But even in the North-east there are now 41,000 properties costing more than £263,000.
Martin Ellis, of the Halifax, said: "The Government's reluctance to raise the threshold in line with house prices means that more and more ordinary people are now finding that their estate will potentially be subject to inheritance tax."
The housing market is beginning to show signs of slowing down as interest rate rises begin to bite, according to property website Rightmove. It said prices in England and Wales rose by just 1.2pc during the four weeks to July 10 compared with jumps totalling 5pc during the previous two months.
The number of homes sold fell to its lowest level for more than a year.
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