On 30th October 2024 the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves delivered the Autumn budget which we had previously been warned would be “difficult”. Below we have summarised the main housing points.
House Building
The chancellor advised that the government will invest more than £5bn to deliver their housing plan. She confirmed that they will increase their Affordable Homes Programme to £3.1bn, provide £3bn worth of support and promises to increase the number of homes and support small housebuilders. The right to buy discount will also be reduced and local authorities will be able to retain more money from sales.
Stamp Duty
The chancellor has confirmed that first time buyers will continue being exempt from paying stamp duty on properties up to £425,000, this is set to be reduced to £300,000 from the 1st April 2025.
Targeting landlords and those with second properties, the chancellor revealed that second-home buyers will have to pay an additional 2% stamp duty from the 31st of October 2024.
Cladding
The government will give £1bn to fast-track the removal of dangerous cladding on homes following the Grenfell Tower incident.
The chancellor will deliver her second budget this autumn. Due to slow economic growth and high inflation, the government need to manage a £40 billion shortfall in public finances. There have already been reports about changes to taxes including income tax and capital gains tax.
12 days ago
The chancellor has advised that landlords could have another tax to pay this autumn as the Treasury decide whether to extend national insurance contributions to rental income.
According to a report in the Guardian, senior ministers have asked Treasury officials to look into a “proportional” property tax to see how it would work as an alternative to the existing stamp duty land tax on owner-occupied homes.
More than a quarter of UK adults in long-term relationships (26%) have reported that despite living together, they keep their finances separate from one another.
There has been a rise in both rent and mortgage costs over the last three years, with renters seeing a greater increase in their monthly payments than those with a mortgaged property.
6 Aug 2025
The new Delayed Start Mortgage launched by Skipton Building Society allows first time buyers to postpone the first three mortgage payments. This product has been designed to help soften the blow of moving in costs for first time buyers.
4 Aug 2025
Mortgage lenders are starting to recognise their “Green” responsibilities when it comes to the different products they offer.
A recent study by Boon Brokers where 1,000 people who had used an estate agent over the last year were surveyed, showed that a whopping 52% said they were pressured into using the estate agents’ in-house mortgage broker.