"The chancellor has produced a welcome budget focused on growth and future economic prosperity, but there is an elephant in the room – housing. We have an ongoing state of affairs where young people without the Bank of Mum and Dad are unlikely to ever be able to afford their own home, and that needs to be addressed. 

"Promoting affordable ownership through vehicles such as shared ownership or even having simply extended Help to Buy by a couple of years would have helped our younger generations have a realistic chance of homeownership.

"Crucially, it would also have helped encouraged housebuilders to keep building, as these firms will down tools and cut building programs back if they can’t sell their inventory. Building homes and getting people onto the housing ladder is of great benefit to the overall economy’s prosperity."

Paresh Raja, CEO at MFS: 

"It's no secret that there are issues requiring attention in the property sector, most notably where housebuilding activity, planning regulations and the national housing stock are concerned. Clearly, as Hunt looked down his list of priorities for this particular Budget, these items were overlooked in favour of other pressing concerns.

"In truth, the property market could benefit from the chancellor's prudent economic approach. While there may not have been any noteworthy policies or investments relating specifically to property, his efforts to combat the cost of living crisis and bring much needed stability to the economy should be welcomed.

"We saw how tumultuous the effects of the mini-Budget were back in September. The ill-fated announcement fuelled significant interest rate changes and a great deal of uncertainty. Hunt has favoured a cautious approach, and the property market will likely benefit from a sense of economic calm, particularly if inflation continues to fall and interest rate hikes come to an end."

Mark Harris, chief executive at SPF Private Clients:

‘It is hugely disappointing that the chancellor didn’t introduce any measures to improve the lot of the first-time buyer. With the soaring cost of living, getting on the housing ladder has become harder than ever and measures to help those struggling to buy their own home would have been welcome.

"The housing market is a significant contributor to the overall health of the economy and it is hard not to feel that Jeremy Hunt missed a trick by not introducing any measures to stimulate activity.

"On the plus side, the inflation outlook is encouraging, which should help bring interest rates back down and continue to make mortgage pricing more palatable to borrowers."

Mike Burton, director at Metis Homes:

“More support is desperately needed for the housebuilding industry to enable us to build more homes, so it is disappointing to not see this being included in the Spring Budget. Simon Clarke, former housing minister, reportedly said that every 100,000 homes built in the UK adds 1% to GDP, so the importance of increasing housebuilding output to aid economic recovery and growth is obvious at a time when the UK needs all the help it can get. 

“The Home Builders Federation (HBF) recently reported that house building rates are set to fall to their lowest level in decades, due in a large part to planning policy changes and the impacts of government department intervention on environmental grounds. 93% of SME developers said that planning was the most significant barrier to growth, and I couldn’t agree more. This is an area which requires urgent focus from ministers to both benefit the economy and ensure that appropriate housing for generations to come is delivered.” 

Mark White, managing director at Bargate Homes:

“Jeremy Hunt referred to solar panels, but without substance. Feed-in tariffs should have been reintroduced for homeowners with solar panels, to reward people for supplying renewable energy back to the grid. Tax breaks for investing in renewable energy generation and smart home technology would have delivered a clear message today, rather than see the Chancellor simply focus on nuclear power.

“With corporation tax rising from 19% to 25%, businesses now need the opportunity to make more profit to fund it. If housebuilders could build more homes, we could make more profit and tax revenue. However, the planning and environmental policy changes are achieving the total opposite. For this government to stay in power beyond the next election, it needs to promote housebuilding. It is such a huge and vital industry that supports the wider economy, and the lack of appropriate, sustainable, and affordable housing may become an increasingly divisive political issue.

“We took a look at our own numbers for January and February and found it alarming that only 8% of Bargate’s homes have been sold to first-time buyers over those two months. This is a 50% reduction in first-time buyer sales compared to those same two months in 2022. Meanwhile, rents are going up disproportionately to inflation, which is making it harder for people to save for a deposit, and yet, with the end of Help to Buy, mortgage deposit requirements are higher than they have been for well over a decade. It is very unhealthy for thousands of would be first-time buyers to drop out of the market. Help to Buy worked well and should be reintroduced."

James Dickens, managing director at Wavensmere Homes:

“With mandatory housing targets scrapped, there is a significant reduction in the number of affordable homes coming onto the market. Above-inflation rises in the cost of raw materials, and additional new costs facing housebuilders for environmental mitigation – which would be more appropriately directed at those using fertilisers – are also negatively affecting the supply of lower-cost new homes.

“With the recent conclusion of Help to Buy, the only help first time buyers have is the current Stamp Duty exemption for homes valued up to £425,000. But with less homes being built, there has been a marked impact on the rental market.

“For every home available to rent, there can be as many as seven people vying to occupy it. It is no surprise we have therefore seen rent hikes of 24% for soon to be completed homes at our Belgrave Village scheme in central Birmingham, and similar increases of 22% at Nightingale Quarter in Derby City Centre, where the final phases of the £165m scheme are being matched with buyers.

“With the continued rise in the cost of living, hardworking people are more trapped than ever as renters, because mortgage deposit payments are so hard to save for.

“While no one expected the Chancellor to announce a silver bullet, the fragility of the UK’s economy has not been sufficiently boosted by today’s Budget.”    

Israel Moskovitz, cofounder of Avon Group of Properties:

“We were hopeful that in today’s Budget, Hunt would announce relief for businesses and househunters, especially given the challenges faced by many as a result of the cost of living crisis and inflation.

“Househunters specifically will have been looking for more support from this Budget. The end of the Help to Buy scheme is looming and will be significant for many first-time buyers.

“Today, we were hoping for more support to be announced in its place, and the government will need to do more to offer some relief to those looking to move up or around the market.”

Jonathan Hale, head of ESG consulting at Knight Frank: 

“It is disappointing that today’s Budget lacked more meaningful measures to support business addressing the urgent needs of the planet. Real estate companies are leading the charge in addressing the sector’s contribution to climate change, but need the government to mitigate the associated risks and create more opportunities for positive impact. The chancellor missed the opportunity today, for example, to introduce tax incentives for reducing embodied carbon in retrofit and refurbishment projects.”

Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman:

“We wanted to see more from the chancellor, particularly with regard to increasing supply of new homes to keep prices in check, as well as increased support to encourage new landlords and discourage others from leaving the sector.

“In some ways, it could be seen as a positive Budget in that the chancellor left the housing sector well alone. Housing makes such a significant contribution to economic prosperity due to its multiplier effect, so is sensitive to even small changes. 

“More specifically, the housing market is all about confidence and sometimes you can do more damage by tinkering, so we will give him a B-plus for effort and not doing anything which could have been harmful and compromised activity.”

Tomer Aboody, director at MT Finance:

“The housing market has settled down after the fallout of the mini-Budget and thankfully there doesn’t seem to be anything in this Budget to upset the apple cart.

“There are fewer transactions as rising interest rates and the cost of living mean affordability is more of an issue, but the real concern around transactions is that they are taking so long. It would have been good to see some reform of stamp duty, particularly for downsizers, to encourage more transactions, but the chancellor has chosen not to intervene at this stage.

“The OBR forecast for inflation at 2.9% by the end of the year is extremely welcome and will have a further settling effect on the market should this prove to be accurate. It already looks as though interest rates may have peaked or are close to doing so, and inflation falling so decisively will help with that.

“With sentiment better on the economic side than it has been in recent months, this Budget should be a welcome boost for confidence.”

William Scoular, head of private client lending at Investec Real Estate:

“Despite calls from the wider industry getting increasingly loud, it’s disappointing that another budget announcement has come and gone without the government addressing the highly punitive VAT policy that discourages retrofitting residential property over building new developments.

“The government’s net zero ambitions will not be met without existing real estate being modernised and this is unlikely to happen at the required volume while these financial barriers remain in place.

“Repurposing is already often more expensive than new developments, so the government should be trying to alleviate those costs and make it more attractive, given the environmental benefits of the carbon savings associated with these projects.”