The move was leaked to journalists over the weekend and is backed up by research from York University revealing that 13% of new London homes sold between 2014 and 2016 were bought by non-residents.

Another study by King’s College London estimates a 1% increase in the volume of homes being sold to overseas companies puts up house prices by 2.1%.

As the news broke, the prime minister told the Andrew Marr show that extra cash raised would be used to help homeless people.

'The money we raise from this extra stamp duty is going to be spent on dealing with the issue of rough sleeping,’ she said.

The plan is part of a strategy to address perceived inequalities in home ownership and, in her conference speech on Wednesday, May will promise to fix the ‘broken’ UK housing market.

‘At the Conservative conference last year, I said I would dedicate my premiership to restoring the British dream, that life should be better for each new generation, and that means fixing our broken housing market. Britain will always be open to people who want to live, work and build a life here,’ she will say.

‘However, it cannot be right that it is as easy for individuals who don’t live in the UK, as well as foreign-based companies, to buy homes as hardworking British residents.

‘For too many people the dream of home ownership has become all too distant and the indignity of rough sleeping remains all too real. This government is committed to helping hardworking British residents get the right home for them and helping to end the scourge of rough sleeping for good.’

Report by Rob Munro