A Stamp Duty cut or a further boost to housing schemes like Help to Buy could be in government plans to drive on a post-Brexit economy, said Berenberg Bank.
The bank’s UK economist Kallum Pickering said new chancellor Philip Hammond is likely to address the demand side of the housing market on top of a raft of other measures to be announced in the November Autumn statement.
‘Near-term risks to the housing market could also prompt the government to reduce stamp duty or bulk up existing policies such as Help to Buy to support the demand side of the market,’ said Berenberg’s Pickering.
Tax cuts or raising the tax-free threshold could also be on the cards to raise consumers’ disposable income and a capital spending boost to offset falling private sector investment in the already badly-hit construction sector are under discussion.
UK growth looked stable in the second quarter at 0.4% from Q1 although Berenberg said Q2 will ‘probably be the last decent reading for UK growth until late next year following a sharp negative shock to confidence caused by the Brexit vote.’
The rate of Q2 growth in the Eurozone slowed to 0.2% after 0.6% in Q1, although this mostly reflects a deterioration in underlying fundamentals with growth expected back at trend rate in 2017.
Victoria Hartley is contributing editor at Mortgage Solutions, Specialist Lending Solutions, Your Money and Your Mortgage at London-based publishing company AE3 Media.
She has an MA in Radio from Goldsmiths after gaining a 2:1 in a Comparative American Studies BA at Warwick University. She also holds a TEFL qualification and taught overseas in Mexico and Japan from 1994 to 1997.
Her role includes editorial oversight of the news, analysis and features, event content management and strategic and editorial consultancy for the AE3 Media group. She is an experienced video, broadcast and live-event host and regularly chairs web and podcast debates and interviews.
Multiple award nominations have resulted in two wins: Santander Media Awards, trade journalist of the year and Headlinemoney Awards, mortgage journalist of the year (B2B). Here is one of the award-winning pieces: https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2011/07/21/exclusive-tale-bailey-fraud-witness/
Previous roles include editorships of Mortgage Solutions, consumer title What Mortgage and trade title Credit Today as well as a stint freelancing for a variety of outlets including The Guardian and Which? Money.
