Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has announce today's Spring Budget, but what does it mean for first-time buyers and people renting?
Unfortunately, this budget didn't have much in it focused on the property sector or help for people trying to buy homes. After the disastrous mini-budget in September 2022 sent the housing market into disarray, people hoping to take their first step onto the housing ladder were looking to today's budget announcement for any steps the government were taking to lend a hand.
Many were hoping to see changes to stamp duty tax, which under the current rules first-time buyers are exempt from paying if the home they purchase costs less than £425,000. They were also hoping to see policies aimed at helping renters who are currently facing sky-high costs amid worsening conditions.
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The budget is essentially the government's financial plan, and includes policies on how your tax money will be spent across different sectors like defence, education, and energy.
Today's budget announcement has been nicknamed the 'Back to Work' budget, as the policies are centred around getting as many people into work as possible. However, this focus on the jobs sector has meant issues like help for first-time buyers and housebuilding targets have been neglected by the government.
First-time buyers
Nigel Purves, co-founder and CEO of Wayhome, said: "The nation’s first-time buyers are currently tackling the highest cost of homeownership on record and it’s bitterly disappointing to see the government turn their back on them yet again. Having afforded them some brief stamp duty respite during the pandemic, they clearly feel their job is done and have now left them out in the cold to fend for themselves.
"While we certainly weren't expecting another stamp duty reprieve, nor do we believe these intermittent discounted buying costs are the answer, a commitment to at least building more homes would have been a start. We were also hoping to see amendments to stamp duty laws to bring parity for all homebuying schemes.
"This would allow those who utilise additional methods, such as Gradual Homeownership, to be afforded the first-time buyer rate of stamp duty tax when they do come to purchase their home, rather than the rate applied to an existing homebuyer.”
Marc von Grundherr, Director of Benham and Reeves, said: "Another missed opportunity for the government to finally do away with the archaic and unnecessary buyer tax that is stamp duty. Doing so would have offered a hand up to thousands of beleaguered buyers who are hard pressed to overcome the high cost of homeownership and helped ensure the market puts its recent cold spell well and truly behind it.”
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Renting
Jonathan Samuels, CEO of Octane Capital, said: "The government has made numerous legislative changes to ‘improve’ the rental market at the expense of the nation’s landlords, changes that have ironically led to higher rents, less accommodation and lower standards. We were hoping that they had finally realised the error of their ways and wanted to once again tempt buy-to-let investors back into the fold.
"Unfortunately this hasn’t been the case and, with them also pushing forward with changes to Capital Gains Tax allowances, we expect to see more landlords exit the sector as a result.”
Housebuilding targets
Speaking on the housebuilding targets, leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer said there was “no real ambition” on housebuilding and clean energy before accusing the Government of delivering “sticking plaster politics”.
Iain Crawford, CEO of Alliance Fund, said: "It’s disappointing not to see any new ambitions with regard to housing delivery in today’s budget. There’s been a severe lack of new homes reaching the market in recent years and so you would have hoped the issue of housing supply would have been higher on the agenda.
"Instead, it seems as though the government has chosen to throw in the towel with no new targets set and this certainly isn’t going to help solve the housing crisis.”
Kimberley Gates, Head of Corporate Partnerships at Sirius Property Finance, said: “Rather than address the housing crisis head on, the government has chosen to shy away from the issue, relinquishing any accountability by failing to set new housebuilding targets. This hands off approach is sure to see the already inadequate level of new homes reaching the market decline even further.
"For homebuyers, this means less choice, higher prices and an even tougher task when attempting to climb the property ladder.”
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