If you have an interest in the property market or you intend on making a move soon, it is likely that you paid attention to the Autumn Budget 2018. Mind you, with so many important aspects being covered, you may have missed the aspects relating to the housing market. Then again, you may not have paid any attention at all, but don’t worry, because Williams of Petersfield is here to update you on the pertinent changes that impact on the property market.

Another change to stamp duty in Budget 2018

It appears stamp duty is the aspect that the Government turns to when it wants to impact on the housing market. In the Autumn Budget 2017, stamp duty was abolished for all first-time buyers who purchased a property up to the price of £300,000. This year, the stamp duty change is for first-time buyers who are looking to purchase a shared-ownership of a property priced up to £500,000.

With more than 200,000 shared ownership households in the United Kingdom, there is a market for this style of property. For some buyers, the opportunity to purchase between 25% and 75% of a property and then rent the rest is an appealing one that helps people get on to the property ladder.

Not everyone is keen on buying a home in this manner but for those that are, this change will be of benefit. The change to stamp-duty in this manner has also been backdated to the Autumn Budget of 2017, which is handy in the budget 2018. If anyone who bought a home in this fashion in the past year felt they had missed out, they’ll be glad to know that they’ll receive a rebate soon.

An extension to the Help To Buy scheme

There has been a lot of debate and discussion regarding the Help To By scheme, which was scheduled to run until 2021. This scheme has now been extended to run until 2023 but in the two additional years, the scheme will only be made available to first-time property buyers.

There has been a lot of criticism surrounding the Help To Buy scheme of late and much of the criticism has been down to the fact that existing property owners have enjoyed more benefit. This move should resolve that problem between 2021 and 2023.

An introduction of a tax on foreign property buyers

Foreign property buyers will be required to pay an additional tax on their purchases, between 1% and 3%. This move is being carried out to dissuade some buyers from purchasing homes while hopefully providing more scope for UK residents and citizens to get on to the property ladder.

There may be some vendors concerned that forcing some buyers to pay more money will drive people out of the market, but the change has probably been driven by concerns in the London property market. Statistics suggest that 13% of all new build properties in the capital have been bought by foreign buyers, and this prevented people from moving up or onto the market in London.

Councils are being supported

There was also an announcement regarding a sum of £500m being provided to the Housing Infrastructure Fund with the hope of encouraging council authorities to build 650,000 new homes.

Whatever move you are keen to make and whatever impact the Budget 2018 measures have had on you, contact Williams of Petersfield and we will ensure that you are fully informed of the latest property market news.