Chancellor John Healey delivered his first Budget on 28th October, and for most people moving home it
was a quiet one. The Prime Minister had ruled out any change to stamp duty back in July, and he kept his
word. There was no new annual property tax, no rise in capital gains tax and nothing that changes the
cost of an ordinary house move.
That doesn’t mean nothing happened. There’s a new scheme for first-time buyers, landlords face their
second tax rise in 12 months, and we now know exactly how the so-called mansion tax will work.
In this article I’ll go through what was announced, how the financial markets reacted and what that
means for mortgage rates, and then what it all means for you, whether you’re buying, selling, letting or
renting.