The Chancellor has announced his Autumn 2021 Budget, which includes investments in housing and business rates relief. Here are three key takeaways for letting and estate agents and landlords.
The government has outlined its investment spending plans in the October 2021 Budget and Spending Review, promising to deliver "an economy fit for a new age of optimism." Letting and estate agents should in particular be aware of plans announced to cover investment in housing stock, green homes, and business rate relief initiatives.
1. Multi-year housing settlement
The new budget includes funding through the Affordable Homes Programme of £11.5 billion in England to help build affordable housing, with 65% of that funding available for homes outside London.
The Chancellor also reconfirmed intentions to share funding of £5 billion to remove unsafe cladding, in part funded by the Residential Property Developers Tax. However, agents and landlords should be aware that the government previously confirmed that this tax will not apply to build-to-rent developers.
2. Investment to help decarbonise homes
As previously outlined in the Net Zero and Heat and Buildings Strategies, the Chancellor has emphasised the government's commitment to helping decarbonise homes. This will help its pledge to reach net zero by 2050 and will help "support tens of thousands of low-income households to make the transition to net zero while reducing their energy bills" during the energy crisis, through the use of and investment in heat pumps, amongst other solutions. The government aims to phase out the sale of new gas boilers by 2035, so agents and their landlords will need to keep an eye on these alternative technologies for the future.
3. Business rates relief
The government has also said it will freeze its business rates multiplier for an extra year, plus create new green investment incentives and a new "business rates improvement relief". Businesses in those sectors worst hit by the pandemic - retail, hospitality and leisure - will also receive a 50% cut to business rates, helping them save £7 billion over the coming 5 years. Theatres, museums, orchestras and galleries will also benefit from an increase in the "headline rates of tax relief", from 27 October 2021 to March 2024 - helping to alleviate some of the uncertainty caused by the ending of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for these hard-hit sectors.
This article is intended as a guide only and does not constitute legal advice. For more information visit gov.uk.
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