| The Government today announced a Stamp Duty Change and a number of new initiatives to address the economic challenges posed by Covid-19. |
| Along with a Stamp Duty Change, The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has so far supported over one million employers to protect over 9 million jobs. The scheme has been open since March and will wind down gradually until October. The government is now introducing a new Job Retention Bonus to incentivise employers who keep on their furloughed employees. It’s a one-off payment of £1,000 to UK employers for every furloughed employee who remains continuously employed through to the end of January 2021. Employees must earn above the Lower Earnings Limit (£520 per month) on average between the end of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and the end of January 2021. Payments will be made from February 2021. A “Plan for Jobs” delivers new funding to ensure more people will get tailored support to help them to find work with an expansion of support offered via Jobcentres, including doubling the number of work coaches and additional intensive support to those who have been unemployed for at least three months. The plan is also to triple the number of traineeships and sector-based work academy placements, alongside further support for apprenticeships, which enable people to work while training. Called Kickstart, a fund has been created to give young people the chance to build skills in the workplace, and to gain experience that will improve their chances of going on to find long-term, sustainable work. The fund is looking to create 6-month work placements aimed at those aged 16-24 who are on Universal Credit and are deemed to be at risk of long-term unemployment. Funding covers 100% of the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week, plus the associated employer National Insurance contributions and employer minimum automatic enrolment contributions. The government is also introducing a new payment of £2,000 to employers in England for each new apprentice they hire aged under 25, and a £1,500 payment for each new apprentice they hire aged 25 and over, from 1st August 2020 to 31st January 2021. These payments will be in addition to the existing £1,000 payment the government already provides for new 16-18 year-old apprentices, and those aged under 25 with an Education, Health and Care Plan – where that applies. In order to support around 130,000 businesses in the hospitality Industry and to help protect the jobs of their 1.8 million employees, the government is introducing the Eat Out to Help Out scheme to encourage people to return to eating out. This will entitle every diner to a 50% discount of up to £10 per head on their meal, at any participating restaurant, café, pub or other eligible food service establishment. The discount can be used unlimited times and will be valid Monday to Wednesday on any eat-in meal (including on non-alcoholic drinks) for the entire month of August 2020 across the UK. Participating establishments will be fully reimbursed for the 50% discount. And, from 15 July 2020 to 12 January 2021, a reduced (5%) rate of VAT will apply to supplies of food and non-alcoholic drinks from restaurants, pubs, bars, cafés and similar premises across the UK. At the same time the reduced (5%) rate of VAT will also apply to supplies of accommodation and admission to attractions across the UK. Further guidance on the scope of this relief will be published by HMRC in the coming days. The housing market has been a clear focus for the government with its critical role in the economy. So, to ensure medium-term confidence in the property market and maintain the growing momentum since the easing of lockdown. the government is temporarily making a stamp duty change, cutting Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) for home buyers across England and Northern Ireland until the end of the financial year. This means increasing the Nil Rate Band of Residential SDLT, in England and Northern Ireland, from £125,000 to £500,000, which means nearly nine out of ten people getting on or moving up the property ladder will pay no SDLT at all. The government is also looking to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes in order to meet the UK’s climate change ambitions by announcing £2 billion to be provided to support homeowners and landlords in making their homes more energy-efficient in 2020-21. For those on the lowest incomes, the scheme will fully fund energy efficiency measures of up to £10,000 per household. The government is also establishing a new Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund to help social landlords improve the least energy-efficient social rented homes, starting with a £50 million demonstrator project in 2020-21 to decarbonise social housing. The government has confirmed that the £12.2 billion Affordable Homes Programme announced at Budget will support up to 180,000 new affordable homes for ownership and rent in England. The £12.2 billion will be spent over five years, with the majority of homes built by 2025-26 and the rest by 2028-29. The Affordable Homes Programme will also include a 1,500 unit pilot of First Homes. There is support for small and medium-sized housebuilders that are unable to access private finance by boosting the Short-Term Home Building Fund, providing an additional £450 million in development finance to smaller firms. Plans to introduce new legislation in summer 2020 will make it easier to build homes in the places people want to live. New regulations will make it easier to convert buildings for different uses, including housing, without the need for planning permission. Later this month, the government will launch a policy paper setting out its plan for comprehensive reforms of England’s planning system to better support the economy and release more land for housing in areas that need it most. |
For more information on the Stamp Duty change click here