[James]

Summary of Budget 2017: Key points at-a-glance

16 minutes ago

Philip Hammond has delivered his second Budget as chancellor. Here are the key points of his speech.


Housing


Stamp duty to be abolished immediately for first-time buyers purchasing properties worth up to £300,000

In London and other expensive areas, the first £300,000 of the cost of a £500,000 purchase by first-time buyers will be exempt from stamp duty

80% of all first-time buyers will not pay stamp duty

Long-term goal to build 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s

£44bn in government support, including loan guarantees, to boost construction skills

100% council tax premium on empty properties

Compulsory purchase of land banked by developers for financial reasons

Review into delays in permitted developments going forward

£28m for Kensington and Chelsea council to provide counselling services and mental health support for victims of the Grenfell fire and for regeneration of surrounding area

New homelessness task force


Alcohol, tobacco, gambling and fuel


Tobacco will rise by 2% above Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation while the minimum excise duty on cigarettes introduced in March will also rise, as will duty on hand-rolled tobacco

Duty on beer, wine, spirits and most ciders will be frozen

But duty on high-strength "white ciders" to be increased via new legislation

Vehicle excise duty for diesel cars that do not meet latest standards to rise by one band in April 2018

Tax hike will not apply to van owners

Existing diesel supplement in company car tax to rise by 1%

Proceeds to fund a new £220m clean air fund

Fuel duty rise for petrol and diesel cars scheduled for April 2018 scrapped



Personal taxation


Tax-free personal allowance to rise to £11,850 in April 2018

Higher-rate tax threshold to increase to £46,350

Short-haul air passenger duty rates and long-haul economy rates to be frozen, paid for by an increase on premium-class tickets and on private jets



The state of the economy


Growth forecast for 2017 downgraded from 2% to 1.5%

GDP downgraded to 1.4%, 1.3% and 1.5% in subsequent years before rising to 1.6% in 2021-22

Productivity growth and business investment also revised down

Annual rate of CPI inflation forecast to fall from peak of 3% to 2% later this year

Another 600,000 people forecast to be in work by 2022



Brexit

£3bn to be set aside over next two years to prepare UK for every possible outcome as it leaves EU



Public borrowing/deficit/spending


Annual borrowing £49.9bn this year, £8.4bn lower than forecast in March

Borrowing forecast to fall in every subsequent year from £39.5bn in 2018-19 to £25.6bn in 2022-23

Public sector net borrowing forecast to fall from 3.8% of GDP last year to 2.4% this year, then 1.9%, 1.6%, 1.5% and 1.3% in subsequent years, reaching 1.1% in 2022-23.

Debt will peak at 86.5% of GDP this year, then fall to 86.4% next year; then 86.1%, 83.1% and 79.3% in subsequent years, reaching 79.1% in 2022-23.



Pensions, savings and welfare


£1.5bn package to "address concerns" about the delivery of universal credit

Seven-day initial waiting period for processing of claims to be scrapped

Claimants to get one month's payment within five days of applying

Repayment period for advances to increase from six to 12 months.

New universal credit claimants in receipt of housing benefit to continue to receive it for two weeks



Business


VAT threshold for small business to remain at £85,000 for two years

£500m for 5G mobile networks, fibre broadband and artificial intelligence

£540m to support the growth of electric cars, including more charging points

A further £2.3bn allocated for investment in research and development

Rises in business rates to be pegged to CPI measure of inflation, not RPI

Income tax to be applied from April 2019 on digital economy royalties relating to UK sales which are paid to a low-tax jurisdiction, raising about £200m a year



Education (England only)


£40m teacher training fund for underperforming schools in England. Worth £1,000 per teacher

8,000 new computer science teachers to be recruited at cost of £84m

Secondary schools and sixth-form colleges to get £600 for each new pupil taking maths or further maths at A-level at an expected cost of £177m



Nations/infrastructure/transport/regions/science


£320m to be invested in former Redcar steelworks site

Second devolution deal for the West Midlands

£1.7bn transport fund for city regions

£2bn for Scottish government, £1.2bn for Welsh government and £650m for Northern Ireland executive

Scottish police and fire services to get refunds on VAT from April 2018.



Health and social care


£2.8bn in extra funding for the NHS in England

£350m immediately to address pressures this winter, £1.6bn for 2018-19 and the remainder in 2019-20

£10bn capital investment fund for hospitals

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42056452