Budget 2017: Housing, Tax, Savings & Pensions

The 2017 Budget was delivered on 22nd November by Chancellor Philip Hammond, and contained big changes, particularly for first time buyers.

Below is is a summary of the alterations outlined in this year’s Budget, with focus on housing, taxation, pensions and savings.

Housing

• Stamp duty will be abolished for first-time buyers that are purchasing properties up to £300,000, effectively immediately
• The first £300,000 of properties worth up £500,000 will be exempt from stamp duty for first-time buyers in high-price areas like London too
• Philip Hammond estimated that 95% of all first-time buyers will benefit, with 80% not paying stamp duty
• The maximum saving will be £5,000
• £44bn in government support to boost construction to meet target of building 300,000 new homes a year by the middle of the next decade

Personal taxation

• Tax-free personal allowance on income tax will increase to £11,850 from April next year
• The higher-rate tax threshold will rise to £46,350
• National Living Wage to increase from £7.50 per hour to £7.83 from April next year

Savings and Pensions

• Savings and Pensions remained relatively untouched in this Budget
• The only pensions change of note is that the lifetime allowance for pensions will increase to £1,030,000 for the tax year 2018/19

The full Budget 2017 summary can be found on the BBC website.