The new rates on buy to let properties will therefore be:

• Up to £125,000              3%
• £125,001 – £250,000   5%
• £250,001 – £925,000   8%
• £925,001 – £1.5m         13%
• Over £1.5m                      15%

It is anticipated that commercial property developers who have more than 15 properties will be exempt from the increases.

The increase is expected to raise £1 billion for the treasury by 2021 and the government has said that up to £60 million of that will be used to help people buying homes in places in England where holiday homes have pushed prices up.

Help to Buy extended

At the same time, Mr Osborne announced that the Help to Buy scheme will be extended by one year to 2021.  Under the scheme home buyers can borrow up to 20% of the value of the property, interest free, for 5 years.  The chancellor also announced an extension to the scheme in London that will mean buyers can borrow up 40% of the value of the property if they have a 5% deposit.

£6.9 billion investment into housing schemes

Further investment into housing will see the government ploughing an extra £6.9 billion into various schemes, including:

• An extra £2.3 billion into the starter homes programme
• £4 billion loans to housing associations and local authorities to build more homes for shared ownership
• £200 million to build homes that tenants can rent whilst saving for a deposit for a purchase.

Furthermore, five housing associations will take part in a pilot scheme that will trial the Right to Buy scheme for their tenants.

You can read the full autumn statement here.

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