The Spring Budget includes a number of measures to help people with the cost of living as the economy recovers, as well as to support sectors which have been badly affected by the pandemic.
In addition to the extension of the 5% VAT reduction for the Hospitality and Tourism industry for another six months, hospitality businesses and their suppliers will also benefit from a freeze in alcohol duties. To keep the cost of living low, the planned increase in fuel duty has also been cancelled.
To support the housing sector, the temporary Stamp Duty Land Tax cut will be extended until 30 June 2021, meaning that the residential SDLT Nil Rate Bill will remain at £500,000. The cut in stamp duty has already helped hundreds of thousands of people buy a home and has supported the economy at a critical time, but many new purchases will not complete in time for the end of March. From 1 July 2021 the Nil Rate Band will reduce to £250,000 until 30 September 2021 before returning to £125,000 on 1 October 2021.
Another measure to assist those moving house is a new mortgage guarantee scheme which will be introduced in April 2021. This scheme will provide a guarantee to lenders across the UK who offer mortgages to people with a deposit of just 5% on homes with a value of up to £600,000. The scheme will be available for new mortgages up to 31 December 2022, and will increase the availability of mortgages for those with small deposits.
Read the Spring Budget in full here.