A Budget for Recovery?

The Budget 2010 was billed as "Securing the Recovery", but is perhaps better branded as a "Budget for First-Time Buyers".

With a general election looming, this was never going to be about repaying the deficit, and there was not much left in the cupboard as a pre-election sweetener. In short, it has been an uneventful Budget.

The announcement of a one-year business rate cut for small businesses provides little comfort for a real estate sector on the verge of rating revaluations. Add in Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) relief for first-time buyers (funded by an increased rate for high-value residential properties), together with the targeting of SDLT partnership schemes, and that about sums it up.

Wragge & Co's real estate tax experts take a look at the key points for the real estate market.