The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak presented his second budget of the year and the outcome of the government’s spending review to the UK Parliament on Wednesday 27 October.
The UK’s finance chief remained focused on balancing the Treasury’s books after spending huge amounts of money to support the economy throughout the global pandemic. The economic landscape going into the Autumn Budget announcement was better than some forecasters had feared, with GDP just 0.8% smaller than before the Covid-19 pandemic, an increase in the employment rate and the housing market performing well.
Below, we take a closer look at some of the key things announced in the Autumn Budget 2021 and the thoughts of our Managing Director, Michael El-Kassir.
Key highlights from the Autumn Budget 2021
- ‘Generation Rent into Generation Buy’: the government is building on existing by confirming a nearly £24 billion multi-year settlement for housing. This includes up to 180,000 affordable homes through investment of £11.5 billion in the Affordable Homes Programme.
- ‘Deliver infrastructure projects better, faster and greener’: including over £35 billion of rail investment over the next three years and investing more than £5 billion in buses and cycling.
- ‘To support local high streets as they adapt and recover from the pandemic’: a temporary business rates relief in England for eligible retail, hospitality and leisure properties for 2022-23, worth almost £1.7 billion.
- ‘Coordinated action on climate change’: the government is investing £1.5 billion in net zero innovation, and laying the foundations for the wider transition to a more resilient energy supply by investing in nuclear technologies and offshore wind.
- ‘Significant commitments on local growth and infrastructure’: includes £1.7 billion worth of projects to upgrade local infrastructure through the first bidding round of the £4.8 billion Levelling Up Fund, and announcing the first 21 projects to benefit from the £150 million Community Ownership Fund.
A comment from our Managing Director
Michael El-Kassir, Managing Director of GRE Assets outlines what he believes the Autumn Budget 2021 means for the housing market: “The announcement of an almost £24 billion multi-year settlement for housing is a positive step by Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak. This includes further investment to unlock over one million new homes, which is essential in addressing the disparity between housing supply and demand. It is also important to increase affordability so that it is more accessible for first time buyers to get on the property ladder. This increased housing delivery will be complemented by the continued regeneration of high streets and town centres across England and the funding of more than 100 new parks in urban areas.
“Since the end of the stamp duty holiday, there hasn’t been the same level of buyer activity in the market as many rushed to make the most of the tax savings available earlier in the year. Given the announcement didn’t address any further stamp duty reductions, there is no time like the present for prospective buyers to complete their transactions, especially given wider speculation that interest rates will rise next year.”
GRE Assets has been delivering high quality, well connected homes in the UK and Spain since 2006.
