Wednesday’s Autumn Statement provided little to boost the construction and property sector despite the welcome surprise of changes to stamp duty, according to Wakemans director Adrian Aston.
“The change to staggered tax bands for Stamp Duty means that many first time buyers and home movers will be paying less tax, which should result is increased activity at the lower end of the market. This however will only make it more affordable to buy a new home and will do nothing to ease the under supply of new homes.
“The Chancellor missed an opportunity to tackle some of the problems that are holding back construction activity such as planning and getting more builders to build new homes. In addition the shortage of skilled labour is still a major challenge and there was little to help change this.
“One positive was the reform of business rates system which is long overdue but overall, this statement was more of a political exercise to win votes for next year’s general election rather than a focused strategy to help sectors like the construction industry.”
