Budget 2016: George Osborne has become antagonistic towards the housing market March 17, 2016 George Osborne has presented a thoroughly disappointing Budget for the housing market with scant reference to initiatives to assist the supply of new build properties. In previous speeches, the chancellor has waxed lyrical about purchase initiatives such as help to buy (1 and 2) and help to buy Isas etc however, in yesterday's big reveal, nothing was laid [...]
Budget 2016: Chancellor George Osborne’s plans are now hanging by a thread March 17, 2016 Budget day is full of tradition. Details will leak in the days leading up to it, the chancellor will pose with his red box, Sky News will launch a helicopter to film his short drive from the Treasury to Parliament and the devil will always be found in the detail. There’s another Budget tradition that [...]
Osborne’s ludicrous sugar tax didn’t sweeten a bland Budget March 16, 2016 George Osborne is edging towards his fiscal targets in a tortoise-like fashion. Depending on your perspective, this is either a methodical, steady approach to stabilising our public finances or – alternatively – it is just painfully, agonisingly and infuriatingly slow to watch. Yesterday’s Budget underscored something we already know – the chancellor may be a [...]
Productivity growth: The alarming trend that could kill all hope of a budget surplus (and Osborne becoming Prime Minister) March 16, 2016 For me, the most interesting aspect of the Budget yesterday wasn’t the headline-grabbing sin tax on sugary drinks, but the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) “highly uncertain judgement call” (in the words of the chancellor) regarding future productivity growth (output per hour worked). The OBR now projects that UK productivity growth, in the calculation of [...]
Slower growth and perilous public finances: Can infrastructure and schools ride to Osborne’s rescue? March 16, 2016 George Osborne’s eighth Budget since taking office as chancellor proved to be one of his most challenging. With the economy taking a turn for the worse, forecasts as recent as those made in November’s Autumn Statement had to be significantly paired back. In fact, in the short term, the economy could weaken further than the [...]
Is the Lifetime Isa the answer to poor savings rates among younger people? March 16, 2016 Richard Parkin, head of pensions at Fidelity International, says Yes. The reasons why younger people don’t save enough for the longer term are numerous, but fundamentally they boil down to the feeling that they can’t afford it or that there are too many other demands on their funds. The Lifetime Isa is definitely not a magic [...]
Budget 2016: Chancellor George Osborne missed a trick and his Budget will be disappointing to the housing market March 16, 2016 George Osborne delivered a thoroughly disappointing Budget for the housing market today with scant reference to initiatives to assist the supply of new build properties. In previous speeches too, the chancellor has waxed lyrical about purchase initiatives such as help to buy (1 and 2) and help to buy ISAs etc however, today, nothing was laid [...]
Budget 2016: A tax on house purchase is a tax on house building too – which will not help the UK’s housing crisis March 16, 2016 A tax on house purchase is a tax on house building too and could perversely worsen the housing crisis in the long term. Raising taxes is a tried and tested way to discourage activity that the government thinks is bad for us and right now it seems the target is buy to let. Unfortunately the [...]
Budget 2016: Before small businesses celebrate George Osborne’s speech, they should check the small print for details March 16, 2016 The review of the small business rate relief scheme in chancellor George Osborne’s latest Budget is a very welcome one for UK businesses and is a better outcome than many expected. The news that many more qualifying businesses will pay no rates whatsoever from 2017 is also cause for celebration for small business throughout the [...]
Budget 2016: George Osborne’s digital tax breaks prove Britain’s a world leader in the sharing economy March 16, 2016 The digital age tax break is a colossal win for Britain. We are the first in the world to introduce a sharing economy allowance that allows individuals to earn up to £2,000 tax free. Chancellor George Osborne, has today divided this into two allowances, each worth £1,000 a year, for both trading and property income. [...]