Autumn Statement 2023: Self-employed brokers ‘will be pleased’ about chancellor’s tax cuts

The government said it aimed at focusing on five areas: reducing debt; cutting tax; supporting British business; building domestic and sustainable energy; and delivering world-class education.

During his speech, the chancellor announced a series of actions aimed at economic growth, such as providing £3m for a range of measures to improve the home buying and selling process.

Also included were plans to reduce the planning backlog with a £32m investment  and the introduction of new premium planning services across England, as well as a consultation for a new PDR to convert one house into two flats, providing the façade is not impacted.

The chancellor went on to reduce Class 1 employee national insurance contributions (NICs) from 12% to 10% from 6th January 2024, cut Class 4 self-employed NICs from 9% to 8%, and abolish the Class 2 self-employed NICs.

In addition, the chancellor revealed plans to extend the Affordable Homes Guarantee Scheme — which supports 95% LTV mortgage products — for an additional 18 months with an extra £3bn to help deliver 20,000 new homes and improve the quality and efficiency of thousands more.

Industry professionals react to Hunt’s Autumn Statement.

John Phillips, CEO of Spicerhaart and Just Mortgages:

“Despite the industry’s long wish list of announcements, it’s safe to say many will feel disappointed by the lack of support for the housing market. After all, this is a key driver in the success of the wider economy.

“While a 2% tax cut to the employee national insurance rate may keep more money in people’s pockets and improve income ratios for new mortgages, it doesn’t quite go far enough to address the clear affordability challenges facing homeowners.

“With an election on the horizon and homeownership still a clear aspiration for many, it would have been great to see more support in this area, particularly through a government-backed low deposit scheme or for the likes of Shared Ownership.

“News of planning reform and measures to increase the number of houses are welcome, although we are still some way off solving the chronic challenge of undersupply.

“Those self-employed brokers will be pleased to see they too feature in the chancellor’s tax cuts, as well as businesses.”

Paresh Raja, CEO at MFS:

“You cannot begrudge the chancellor’s focus on supporting businesses and consumers with tax reforms but, from the perspective of the property market, it was a somewhat uninspired and unimaginative statement.

“Speeding up the planning process and potentially making it simpler to convert houses into flats will be welcomed by some landlords, investors, and developers, but more detail is required.

“Meanwhile, a more drastic overhaul of the planning system seems to have been abandoned, which feels like an important oversight.

“The lack of meaningful property-related announcements is disappointing, given there had been rumours of stamp duty cuts over the weekend.

“Yesterday was a real opportunity to breathe life into the market and help catalyse growth at a time when economic markets are gradually improving, but that opportunity was missed.”

Ravi Anand, managing director at ThinCats:

“Fiscal announcements such as the Autumn statement are, in the first instance, about creating stability and certainty to allow businesses to plan for the future. The chancellor has met that objective — certainly when measured against the 2022 debacle!

“Although welcome, the business-friendly measures announced are ultimately overshadowed by the big news of forecast anaemic economic growth.

“The reality is, until inflation is under control and interest rates are lower, we will continue to see business stress and low growth — despite this negative backdrop, we are seeing strong businesses getting stronger through growth and acquisition initiatives and we expect this to continue.

“Leveraging the British Business Bank’s considerable investment skills to launch the Growth Fund should be applauded and could be a blueprint for similar initiatives across the SME funding market.”

Sarah Thompson, managing director at Mortgage Scout:

“The government's focus on extending the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, while beneficial, doesn't address the larger problem of affordability and the high cost of deposits.

“This announcement seems inadequate in the face of high interest rates and escalating house prices. They fail to address the key issue of the high barrier to entry for first-time buyers — more robust and targeted interventions are needed to make a meaningful impact in these areas.”

Elliot Vure, corporate sales director at Together:

“Hunt’s focus on the politics over the economics wasn’t quite the full meal the UK public have been hungry for in the week’s leading up to today’s statement. But could this be just an appetiser of what's to come in March's Budget.

“A promise to shake-up the red tape around planning applications is a smart move as opportunity for the nation's developers must be unlocked.

“Commercial and residential developers know the scale of the opportunity across the UK. However, for years, the Achilles heel has been the time drain on getting plans approved, finances secured, and labour and building underway.

“More details are needed, but knowing local authorities will be able to recover the full costs of major business planning applications, in return for meeting faster timelines, should reenergise the Levelling Up agenda.

“While there was some comfort for renters with the rise to the Local Housing Allowance rate to average £800 next year and a £450m allocation to the local authority housing fund, so many other key areas were notably glossed over.

“Having been tempted by mouthwatering mortgage morsels in headlines all week, today failed to deliver; it is vital proper government support is given to open doors in what's still a tough economic environment.”