Stamp duty holiday
Estate agents are gearing up for a second housing mini-boom after the Chancellor extended the stamp duty holiday until the end of June.
It means an extra 300,000 home buyers could benefit from the break.
House hunters swarmed property websites within minutes of the announcement, suggesting the market may once again go into overdrive.
The extension was widely anticipated, but Rishi Sunak went further than expected by announcing an additional tapering-off period.
Property experts said the news would be a huge relief to buyers stuck in transaction bottlenecks and would save up to 100,000 sales from collapse. It prompted the Office for Budget Responsibility to predict house prices would grow by 5 per cent this year, a startling turnaround from its November forecast of a 4 per cent fall.
Storm clouds of austerity are on the horizon after Budget, says Forbes eveningtelegraph.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eveningtelegraph.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Budget 2021: Kent business experts react
|
Rishi Sunak has unveiled his 2021 Budget
The Chancellor s Budget has given businesses vital breathing space according to a leading business figure in the county.
Rishi Sunak unveiled his heavily leaked Budget in the Commons this afternoon with most businesses taking comfort from a range of measures designed to allow them to survive the lockdowns which have proven so financially devastating over the last 12 months.
Key announcements were the extension of the furlough scheme until December, an extension to the business rates holiday, and further grants for hospitality and non-essential stores forced to close.
Jo James, chief executive of the Kent Invicta Chamber of Commerce said: Without having a chance to see the detail in the red book, on the face of it the Budget appears to be generous in some areas and fair in others.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has unveiled crucial Budget to pave way for the economy to recover from coronavirus
Income tax thresholds are being frozen until 2026 and corporation tax will rise to 25 per cent from 2023
Some 1.3million will be brought into basic rate of tax and another million will move into the higher rate
The massive furlough scheme will be extended again to the end of September along with other bailouts
The government s total spending on response set to reach an unimaginable £407billion by end of next year
Mr Sunak vowed to do whatever it takes and use full fiscal firepower to help the economy bounce back