However, he announced that the Government will extend its homeowner support for six months.
He said: “Over 220,000 people have been helped through the support for the mortgage interest scheme. This will extend for a further six months.”
The inheritance tax threshold will not be raised from £325,000 to £350,000 because Darling said it is not a priority.
He added that VAT will return to 17.5% on 1 January as planned, up from 15%. Empty property relief has been extended to 2011.
Bankers’ bonuses over £25,000 will be subject to a one-off 50% tax. Individuals will not pay but their employers will.
Among the other points are that the taxpayer costs for bailing out the banks will be £10bn and the basic state pension will rise by 2.5% in April
Net debt will reach 56% of GDP in 2009. Darling said he is confident the UK’s economy will return to growth in 2010. He expects a return to growth in Q4 but admitted that over 2009 as a whole, the UK economy is expected to have contracted by 4.75%. He said the UK’s GDP will grow by between 1% and 1.5% in 2010, rising to 3.5% in 2011 and 2012.
The financial services sector will not be as important to the UK economy in the future, though Darling said it will still have a major role to play.
Darling added that the Government action since the onset of the financial crisis has dampened the impact of recession.
Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, said the Chancellor missed an open goal with his statement.
He explained: “By ignoring the advice of much of the property industry there is a real danger that the property slump that has hit thousands of families hard over the past 12 months will hit thousands more, harder, in the year ahead. Stamp duty unfairly distorts the property market. It is prohibitive to people looking for a step up the housing market and unfairly penalises people investing in buy-to-let portfolios.
“As a first step the Chancellor should keep the stamp duty threshold as it is when the current holiday ends in December. More importantly, the Government should commit to a complete reform of the tax to produce something that is fairer for everyone,” he added.
Rosemary Rogers, director of Reallymoving, a provider of instant online quotes for home-movers said it was no great surprise that the Chancellor decided not to extend the Stamp Duty holiday, which has been a helping hand to first-time buyers.
She added: “With no incentive to buy and the difficulties in securing mortgage finance, the end of this holiday could well see the housing market stagnate in the new year, as first-time buyers are unable to raise the funds to get onto the property ladder.
“New measures must be introduced to help the lower end of the market and keep people moving, without first-time buyers, who are the lifeblood of the market, the small recovery that has been made to date will simply be wiped out. “
David Whittaker, managing director of Mortgages for Business, agreed that the end of the Stamp Duty holiday was no surprise.
He explained: “Alistair Darling has seen house prices rising over the course of 2009 and feels the market no longer needs the support. The fact of the matter is that the stamp duty holiday did not actually do a great deal to support the market.
“Cash rich investors and those lucky enough to have large deposits have been propping up the market for much of the last 6 months. These buyers are fast becoming thin on the ground though and unless lenders loosen their criteria in 2010 we are unlikely to see a huge increase in the property market’s fortunes. In fact we will see a reversal,” he added.
