So the most political of Chancellors rose to his feet to deliver his eighth Budget in a year, which was not only pivotal to his long-term economic plan but, importantly, to his long-term political plan.
The scrapping of the Money Advice Service, Pension Advisory Service, and Pension Wise may seem illogical when the Government is pushing for increased financial education, and continually seeking ways to open up the avenues for the public to receive access to advice.
With shrinking numbers of advisers in the UK and the access criteria increasing all the time, it seems a retrograde move when the Chancellor has laid out his plans to create a society with greater financial inclusion.
The Chancellor also announced slimming down the level of funding in the future.
When it came to stamp duty, it was clear this Budget created a levelling of the playing field after the welcome changes introduced in last year’s Budget for residential property, providing the potential for significant cuts in costs for SME business when purchasing new premises.
For a business purchasing a property at £260,000, this is a saving of £4,300. Could this be the springboard for increased investment into commercial property by the UK business owners?
Also, the Chancellor spoke at length in his Budget speech about the creation of the Northern Powerhouse and the investment into infrastructure.
An interesting question is whether we will see the age for access to pension funds increase to 60But he said little specifically to support house building and homeownership in the UK, apart from the announcement of the Lifetime Isa, which is to be used as a springboard for either saving towards a home deposit or to be used at age 60.
An interesting question is whether we will see the age for access to pension funds increase to 60.
There was also a small respite in the buy-to-let space for those who may be purchasing a second property before the sale of their first with an increase in the time frame to claim the additional rate of stamp duty from 18 months to 36 months.
The major announcement is that significant investors, both personal and corporate, will also be subject to the additional rates of stamp duty, levelling the tax burden with those smaller investors who have purchased a smaller number of properties as part of a blended portfolio.
Lee Clark is a chartered financial planner for Brewin Dolphin
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