As 2016 is the year of surprises, Brexit, Donald Trump and Leicester City, what could we expect from the autumn statement?

Although no ‘bold statements’ or shock moves this time round overall good news for the Mortgage Industry, arguably the first in considerable time to try to seriously address housing shortages, Philip Hammond has been described as the ‘the listening chancellor’, it’s clear that he has an aim to get Britain Building across a cross section of society and not just the fortunate few.
So what is in it for the Mortgage Industry? A few notable areas, Philip Hammond did announce that there would be an extra £3.7bn for housing projects which were not aimed directly at first time buyers but with most of that being affordable housing it is likely to benefit them.

The chancellor pledged a £2.3bn housing infrastructure fund to provide 100,000 new homes in high demand areas. Alongside £1.4bn to deliver 40,000 additional affordable homes and rent to buy details still to be finalised. New Build focussed lenders such as ourselves will be watching this closely and be keen to react to broker and consumer behaviour giving us great opportunity in the coming months and years.

Despite some pressures from the industry over stamp duty there was no mention of the tax which considering this still remains a substantial barrier to homeownership (research has suggested up to 60% of potential homeowners would be more likely to buy if they didn’t have stamp duty or upfront costs).

It is clear from discussions amongst affordable and first time buyer developers that supply is nowhere close to demand. However, change has been alluded to for some time and I feel more optimistic that this time change will come……