Budget 2009: Stamp duty exemption extended

Wednesday, 22 April 2009 12:00 AM

By politics.co.uk staff

In the Budget today the chancellor announced he would extend the stamp duty holiday for homes up to £175,000 to the end of the year in an attempt to help first-time buyers.

He also announced the introduction of a scheme to guarantee mortgage-backed securities to boost lending and an extra £80 million for the shared equity mortgage scheme.

There will be further investment made to encourage and accelerate construction of new homes. A £500 million investment will be made to kick-start housing schemes which have stalled because of the credit crunch while there will be £100 million made available to local authorities to help them construct new energy efficient council housing.

The armed forces will also see investment in their housing with £50 million promised for construction and improvement.

As part of the government's new commitment to green issues they also announced a £435m investment for energy efficiency schemes for homes, firms and public buildings.

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