The government guidelines, schemes and announcements are constantly being updated, especially in the property industry. Keeping up to date on all things property is one of our top priorities – we feel this needs to be relayed to everyone in the sector simply and effectively (a reason why we started this blog).  

The budget includes a few measures that may affect you. The first takeaway being energy prices. This is something that has been causing financial stress for the majority of households. Hunt has now extended the government grant by 3 months, therefore ending in June 2023. If you are paying via direct debit, then you will see this show up on your energy bills. However, if you are paying via a prepayment meter, you will be receiving a letter with a voucher in it every month. On top of this lovely news, it has also been announced that energy prices are expected to drop from July 2023. We’re hoping this means that over summer the low energy bills will be making up for those extortionate bills we all had over winter.

This next action goes out to all you Mums and Dads! The government have now lowered the age of the 30 hours of free childcare a week from 3 to 4 year olds to 9 months old. This really is incredible, and I am sure that all you parents reading this will find that this will increase your flexibility and decrease the stress. ALSO, through universal credit, the government has agreed to cover childcare costs of up to £951 for a single child and £1,630 for two children. This is a huge increase which will boost the budget for all the tenants that have kids and aid them in paying their rent on time and in full, or even helping towards saving for buying a house! 

On a more unfortunate note, ahead of this budget, it was released that there were plans for reinstating corporation tax relief on mortgage interest payments and reducing stamp duty – this didn’t make the cut in the Spring Budget 2023. In fact, corporation tax is going to increase by April 2023. This may have negative impact on all the property portfolio owners that make a profit of more than £250,000. These people will be expecting an increase from 19% to 25%. 

Now back to the good stuff! It was mentioned that the government are going to be raising the amount that can be added to your pension without paying extra tax, from £40,000 to £60,000. This takes a significant amount of consideration into the long term (and we love forward thinking).  

So, what’s next? What more is the government going to do? Will there be a next budget? What's going to happen in the housing market? SO MANY QUESTIONS! 

One prediction that was made by the Chancellor was that the UK is supposedly going to be avoiding a “technical recession” this year. This is a term used to describe the economy shrinking over two consecutive quarters. The housing market isn't all that bad in recessions; lower deposits and less borrowing! This is a huge advantage for first time buyers and a great time to get yourself on the property ladder. Although, the current situation (as of February), house prices have increased and there is a lot of confidence in the market, especially with sellers. 

There is so much more we could talk about within the Spring Budget 2023, but I wouldn’t want to bore you with this for too long as I am sure you will hear all about it in the news. If you do have any questions, I would be open to answering anything as well as I can. Or even if you just want to discuss your side and express your feelings about this – I am all ears! You can find our contact form on this webpage.