Something the chancellor failed to mention, but could be important for anyone buying a home in certain parts of the country, is stamp duty.
That’s a tax in England and Northern Ireland when you buy a property.
Since 2022, for first-time buyers it was only charged when buying a property that cost more than £425,000. You only pay stamp duty on the portion above £425,000.
However, from April it will again be paid for properties that cost more than £300,000. Primarily, this will affect people buying in southern England.
Analysis by property portal Zoopla suggests about 80% of first-time buyers currently pay no stamp duty, but this is now expected to fall to about 60%.
Landlords face paying a higher stamp duty surcharge. They could choose to pass on some of that extra cost to tenants in higher rents.
If they choose not to buy, that could mean more homes for homebuyers to purchase, but it could also squeeze the number of available rental properties. Rightmove says about 15 prospective tenants are chasing every rental property on average at the moment.
