Spring Budget 2017: Housing

Coming hot on the heels of the Housing White Paper and policy announcements in Autumn Statement to increase housing supply, there were no significant policies or funding unveiled by the Chancellor. The Chancellor made some minor adjustments to property taxation.

Overview

With the Spring Budget following soon after the release of the Government’s Housing White Paper, and policy announcements designed to increase housing supply in the Autumn Statement 2016, it was unsurprising that the Chancellor made no significant policy or funding changes to the housing sector in this Budget. The Chancellor did make minor adjustments to Stamp Duty Land Tax and tax relief on long-term lettings.

The lack of announcements on housing has not gone unnoticed by the Opposition and industry. Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn MP accused the Government of failing to address the problems surrounding housing supply and affordability, saying “Did he empower councils to tackle the housing crisis by allowing them to borrow to build council housing, as we are pledged to do? No”. While Deputy Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, Gareth Smart, highlighted that the Budget was a “missed opportunity to tackle the housing crisis”.

Policy announcements

Stamp Duty Land Tax

Following the Government’s consultation last year on proposals to make the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) filing and payment process faster and easier, the Chancellor announced that the Government will delay the reduction in the filing and payment window until 2018-19. The Government originally planned to reduce the filing and payment window from 30 days to 14 days in 2017/2018, as announced in the Autumn Statement 2015.

Rent-a-room relief

The Chancellor announced plans to consult on proposals to redesign rent-a-room relief, which currently provides tax-free income to those renting out furnished accommodation to a lodger in their main home. The purpose of this redesign is to ensure that any relief is better targeted to support longer-term lettings and increase the supply of affordable long-term lettings.