Many potential property tax cuts were trailed in advance of the Autumn Statement 2023. These included stamp duty changes for downsizers and cuts to inheritance tax.
Anyone hoping for a tax cut on their home move will be disappointed.
But among the "110 growth measures" included in Jeremy Hunt's speech were support for private renters and planning changes to encourage new building.
House building
The Chancellor promised to unlock new home building with £110 million over the next two years "to deliver high quality nutrient mitigation schemes unlocking 40,000 homes".
He also pledged £32 million to "bust the planning backlog and develop fantastic new housing quarters in Cambridge, London and Leeds, which will lead to many thousands of additional dwellings", as well as allocating £450 million to the local authority housing fund to deliver 2,400 new homes for Afhan refugees and ease homelessness pressures.
Mr Hunt also promised a consultation into new permitted development rights, which would allow any house to be divided into two flats, provided the exterior remains unaffected.
Housebuilders have cut back on construction targets since Kwasi Kwarteng's controversial mini-Budget in autumn 2022.
Challenges facing the industry include the closing down of the Help to Buy scheme in October last year, removing a significant cash injection to developers, while soaring mortgage costs have hit buyer affordability.
But many questioned whether the changes went far enough to deliver meaningful change.
Outra senior adviser and former Crest Nicholson Chief, Tom Nicholson, said: “Hearing the Chancellor address the planning backlog today was somewhat promising, but we need to see the 'meat in the sandwich' to verify if it's genuine reform.
"The housing crisis isn't just about numbers; it's about overcoming systemic hurdles. The persistent planning backlog stalls meeting housing needs. We must bridge intentions with actions for tangible change.
"A robust framework is essential, with mandatory housing targets for local plans, streamlining planning, reducing risks, and enabling prompt home construction.
"True reform means navigating regulations, wisely allocating resources, and fostering stakeholder collaboration. This creates an environment for swift housing development, meeting the UK's urgent needs.”
Mortgage help
The Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, which was due to close to new accounts on December 31 this year has been extended until the end of June 2025.
The scheme encourages lenders to offer mortgages with a 95 per cent loan-to-value, and is designed to help first-time buyers with smaller deposits.
Through the initiative, which was launched during the pandemic, buyers can put down five per cent of the total value of a home worth up to £600,000 as a deposit, while the remaining 95 per cent is covered by a mortgage.
Income multiples are still restricted to 4.5 times income, limiting the amount buyers can borrow.
Nationwide said more needed to be done to help first-time buyers onto the ladder and called for an independent review into the market.
Renting
The cap on Local Housing Allowance will be lifted to the 30th percentile of local market rents.
Mr Hunt said: "Because rent can constitute more than half the living costs of private renters on the lowest incomes I have listened closely to many colleagues as well as the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Resolution Foundation, citizens advice UK and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation who said that unfreezing local housing allowance was an urgent priority."
He claimed the rise would give 1.6 million households an average of £800 of support in the next year.
The current London housing benefits caps are around £260 per week for a one-bed property, £302 for a two-bed and £354 for a three-bed.
Unfreezing the Local Housing Allowance rate would allow people to claim support for their current local rent prices.
The 30th percentile is calculated by taking 12 months of lettings information from the previous year, then basing the rate on what the cheapest 30 out of 100 homes would cost to rent.
In practice, this should make the lowest 30 per cent of the local market available to tenants who receive Local Housing Allowance.
LHA had been frozen since 2020 and was based on rents from three years ago.
Average London rents have risen 28 per cent since 2019, adding more than £500 per month to the average rent bill.
Will the changes help struggling first-time buyers and homeowners?
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves criticised the "Tory mortgage penalty", which has seen the payments of those remortgaging since July spike by an average of £220 per month.
She said half a million more homeowners will face the same fate next year.
But the Chancellor's cuts to National Insurance and other tax cuts were welcomed by Richard Donnell at Zoopla, who said the housing market is an extension of the wider economy.
The property portal's executive director said: "Putting more money into take-home pay will help improve housing affordability and support confidence into 2024.”
Property commenter Anthony Codling questioned how far this additional money would go, however. He said: "whilst the centerpiece cut to Class National Insurance (worth £37.50 per month for the average earner) will fund a Pret subscription and a pint, it will do little to help them get on or move up the housing ladder."
The downsizing incentives some hoped might loosen up the property market did not materialise, but Paula Higgins of the Homeowners Alliance suggested that making it easier to convert houses into flats could help "boost private rentals and create more right-sized homes".
"But the government doesn’t have a good track record on extending Permitted Development Rights. The quality element can be missing and is too often not up to standard, as we have seen with these office to flat conversions.
"Standards need to be maintained as deregulation in this area does mean a greater risk of bad conversions - for example, minimum space standards are often not adhered to. And unlike when you buy a new home, buyers of these conversions will not be given a warranty."
Rightmove’s Tim Bannister said today's statement felt "like a missed opportunity to help home-movers and home-owners".
He said: "Affordability-stretched first-time buyers in particular will be feeling forgotten, as they try to get onto the ladder with increasingly squeezed budgets and reduced support options. We hope the government will consider other measures to help the market in the spring budget.”
Nick Leeming, Chairman of Jackson-Stops, said: “The Chancellor’s muted actions today while not a hindrance to the housing market are definitely not the helping hand that many hoped for. Expectations of possible announcements on support for first-time buyers, cuts to stamp duty for downsizers and Inheritance Tax reliefs were all notably absent.
“Irrespective of the Chancellor’s omissions today the housing market has continued to show resilience in house prices this year with falls far more subtle than many had expected, but further measures that stimulate growth and ensure this trend remains stable for the long-term will always be welcomed by the industry.”
