Budget 2024: The key property announcements made by Rachel Reeves and how they will affect you

Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered Labour's first budget to the House of Commons today (October 30), marking the country's first budget in history to be given by a female Chancellor.

Rachel Reeves has committed to Labours promise to 'secure stability to this country, fix foundations and deliver change through responsible leadership', by increasing taxes by £40 billion.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer made announcements on taxes, wages, pensions, benefits and the cost of living, including several changes to the housing sector from stamp duty to housebuilding and Capital Gains Tax.

READ MORE: Major stamp duty rise coming into force from TOMORROW

Stamp duty tax

Rachel Reeves announced a rise in stamp duty tax for second-home buyers, which will change from 3 percent to 5 percent from tomorrow (October 31). This will apply to properties priced between £40,000 and £250,000.

However, first-time buyers will benefit as they continue to be exempt from paying stamp duty on homes priced up to £425,000. If a property is priced higher than this, they will only pay tax at 5 percent above £425,000 and up to £625,000.

"We've committed to reforming stamp duty land tax, to raise revenues whilst supporting those buying their first home," Rachel Reeves told the Commons.

"We are increasing the stamp duty land tax surcharge for second homes, known as the higher rate, by two percent to five percent which will come into effect from tomorrow.

"This will support over 130,000 additional transactions from people buying their first home, or moving home, over the next five years."

Housebuilding

The chancellor says the government will invest more than £5bn to deliver their housing plan. She then announced that the budget will increase the Affordable Homes Programme to £3.1bn, providing £3bn worth of support and guarantees to increase the supply of homes and support small housebuilders.

Rachel Reeves said the Government would provide investment on housing, telling the Commons: “We will increase the Affordable Homes Programme to £3.1 billion, delivering thousands of new homes.

“We will provide £3 billion of support in guarantees to boost the supply of homes and support our smaller housebuilders. And we will provide investment to renovate sites across our country, including at Liverpool Central Docks where we will deliver 2,000 new homes, and funding to help Cambridge realise its full growth potential.”

Ms Reeves also acknowledged the need to increase the supply of affordable housing, saying: “Having heard representations from local authorities, social housing providers and Shelter, I can today confirm that the Government will reduce Right to Buy Discounts and local authorities will be able to retain the full receipts from any sales of social housing so that we can reinvest back into the housing stock and into new supply.

“By doing this we will give more people a safe, secure and affordable place to live. We will provide stability to social housing providers, with a social housing rent settlement of CPI plus 1% for the next five years and we will deliver on our manifesto commitment to hire hundreds of new planning officers to get Britain building again."

Capital Gains Tax

A major rise in Capital Gains Tax (CGT) has also been confirmed today in the Autumn Budget. CGT is charged if you sell, give away, exchange, or dispose of an asset - which could be a second home - and make a profit or "gain".

Rachel Reeves confirmed the hike in her speech, saying the lower rate of 10 percent will rise to 18 percent, and the higher rate will rise from 20 percent to 24 percent. However, she stated that even with the rise, this will remain the lowest rate for any European G7 country.