Budget 2020: How it affects the property market

Although much of this week’s Budget speech focused on measures to protect people and businesses from the economic impact of the coronavirus, there were several announcements on property. Here’s our round-up of what the Budget means for the housing market.New stamp duty surcharge for non-UK resident buyersA new 2% stamp duty surcharge will be introduced from April 2021 for non-UK residents buying property in England and Northern Ireland. This is on top of the standard stamp duty rates they must already pay on property purchases and could take the top possible rate of stamp duty for overseas buyers to 17%. The introduction of the surcharge may prompt overseas buyers who are considering buying a property in England or Northern Ireland to act sooner rather than later. You can calculate how much stamp duty you might have to pay based on current rates using our stamp duty calculator. £12bn boost for affordable housingThe Chancellor pledged to ‘get Britain building’ over the next five years and said that 70,000 new homes would be built in areas where there is high demand. He also announced that interest rates on lending for social housing would be cut by one percentage point so that local authorities can invest more in their communities. The Budget also addressed the issue of homelessness, allocating £643m to help home 6,000 rough sleepers. £1bn building safety fund to remove unsafe cladding from buildingsA new £1bn building safety fund will be used to remove combustible cladding from private and social tower blocks over 18 metres tall. This is in addition to £600m which has already been allocated to remove the specific type of cladding that was used on the Grenfell Tower. According to Labour, more than half a million leaseholders are estimated to be living in private towers covered with combustible cladding.