Key announcements affecting personal finances – Budget 2013

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3rd April 2013

Key announcements affecting personal finances – Budget 2013

  • A new ‘Help to Buy’ scheme which will invest £3.5 billion in shared equity homes, helping those wanting to own a new-build home. A deposit of five per cent will attract 20 per cent of the value of new build homes from the Government – providing the property is worth less than £600,000. It will run for three years from January 2014. A Mortgage Guarantee scheme will also make £12 billion of Government money available to boost mortgage lending, subject to final design.
  • A new tax-free childcare scheme will provide 20 per cent towards the first £6,000 of childcare costs for each child, to be phased in from Autumn 2015.
  • The introduction of the single-tier state pension worth £144 is to be brought forward a year to 2016.
  • The £72,000 cap on social care costs will also be brought forward a year to 2016. The Chancellor also announced an extension to the means-tested residential care threshold in the same year, although this is not yet confirmed.