'Thankfully there doesn’t seem to be anything in this Budget to upset the apple cart'

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.”