Spring Budget: No big changes for the housing industry

In recent timesthe property market has very much been one of the focuses of the Government’s budgets, addressing major issues including cuts to stamp duty and help for first time buyers. However, in the latest Spring budget, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt largely left out the industry from his updated plans. As an estate agency we would very much like to see fresh support for the housing market, particularly after the past year and the imbalance of supply and demand, the concerns for both first-time buyers and buy-to-let landlords, and of course continued support of stamp duty changes. That said when it comes to budget, there are several key highlights to pull out. Here are just a few: The Government extended the EPG (Energy Price Guarantee), which was expected, which keeps the average household bill at £2,500 until the end of June. The energy rebate scheme will not be extended, and will end later this month. It was announced that the pensions annual tax-free allowance will rise by 50% from £40,000 to £60,000 and that the lifetime allowance- the total that can accumulate in a pension pot before paying extra tax - has been scrapped. The 5p cut in fuel duty will be extended, and fuel duty will also be frozen for the next year. Jeremy Hunt confirmed that the rate of corporation tax on profits over £250,000 will go ahead from April. It was confirmed that companies with profits of more than £250,000 will see a rate increase from 19% to 25%. The government will abolish the work capability assessment for disabled people and separate benefit entitlement from an individual's ability to work. The aim is to enable disabled people to seek work without fear of losing their benefits. An extra £200m a year - in addition to the £500m already allocated - will be made available to tackle "the curse" of potholes.