Ladybird Living – Your London Estate Agent
Spring Budget 2023 - what are the benefits?
The 2023 Spring Budget did not support investment. Property owners were not provided with any financial support to help upgrade their existing properties despite the requirement for rented homes to achieve an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of ‘C’ by 2025. Tenants within the private rented sector were also not offered any direct support such as an uplift to Local Housing Allowance rates. Furthermore, the Budget did not effectively address the shortage of housing. As a result, many property owners, tenants, and estate agents will not be satisfied by the 2023 Spring Budget.
Organisations within property such as the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the British Property Federation have been pushing for new grants and tax breaks to provide support for property owners to upgrade the EPC ratings of their properties. However, the 2023 Spring Budget has failed to address this.
Since property owners have been unable to gain tax relief under Section 24, more property owners have decided to leave the sector. PayProp then requested that the government funds the courts to make eviction proceedings quicker and to also provide councils with more financial support to improve their enforcement of housing standards. These suggestions were overlooked by the 2023 Spring Budget.
What are the benefits of the Spring Budget?
There is expected to be a three-month extension of the Energy Price Guarantee which will support renters with managing their finances.
The 2023 Spring Budget may also impact inflation as the Office for Budget Responsibility predicts that inflation will drop to 2.9% at the end of the year.
As a result of the Spring Budget, it is also likely that Affordable Housing Programmes will be successfully introduced by 12 new Investment Zones across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. This may increase investment opportunities which would deal with the supply shortage in the housing market.
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