In his annual budget statement the Chancellor outlined some big announcements on UK wide spending and tax cuts. But some things, like business rates and health, are devolved. Which means that some announcements were for England-only.
So what applies to Wales?
HMRC figures show that 125,000 jobs in Wales were furloughed on the 30th November 2020 and by the end of December that had risen to 158,700. Provisional estimates from HMRC suggest that this has increased to 178,000 by the end of January. The furlough scheme is UK wide and with the announcement that it will be extended until September means good news for those 178,000 people.
Another UK wide support that was announced today was continued help for self employed. However with some areas being devolved, any announcements around things like support for apprenticeships, culture, the NHS and business grants will be England-only.
Of course as an estate agent I was interested to hear Rishi Sunak announce that the temporary increase of stamp duty threshold has been extended beyond the end of March and now will be phased out, only returning to normal levels on 1st October. Although at the moment there is no guarantee that Wales will follow Rishi and also extend the equivalent Land Transaction Tax holiday, I have heard a rumour that it will be extended until June.
Other property related news from todayβs Budget announcement is the ultra low deposit mortgage scheme. The scheme will be available to current homeowners as well as first-time buyers looking to buy a house for up to Β£600,000 and thanks to guarantees from the government buyers will be able to borrow 95% of the value of the property they are buying.
