Will homeowners benefit in today’s budget?

With the Bank of England base rate currently standing at 0.5%, homeowners still struggling to meet repayments will be hoping for good news from Chancellor Alistair Darling when he gives his budget speech later today.

If you are a homeowner, here are some things to look out for in today’s budget announcement:

1.Extension to increase in stamp duty threshold. In September 2008, the government temporarily increased the threshold under which house purchases can be made without paying stamp duty to £175,000. This threshold was expected to revert to £125,000 in September 2009, but there is some hope that Mr Darling will announce an extension to this, offering more savings for first-time buyers.

2. Increased investment in council housing. The Chancellor is expected to announce a raft of measures to help those in need of council housing. This is likely to include increased funding to help local authorities build more council houses, partnerships with private companies to build housing, and Government purchases of properties for social housing and shared equity schemes.

3. Funding for the homeowner mortgage support scheme. This package to assit homeowners hit by an unexpected reduction in income was confirmed earlier this month. Today’s speech should reveal details of exactly how much money is earmarked for the scheme, which could provide some families with a vital lifeline as unemployment continues to rise.

The CML have forecast that there will be 75,000 repossessions and 500,000 mortgages in arrears of three months or more by the end of 2009; it is expected the government will be keen to assess this in today’s report.