The plan revealed stamp duty land tax cuts to help people on all levels of the property market and lift 200,000 homebuyers every year out of paying the tax altogether.

The changes are expected to increase additional residential investment, boost spending on household goods, and support the hundreds of thousands of jobs in the property industry.

The nil rate band will be doubled from £125,000 to £250,000, meaning that 200,000 more people every year will be able to buy a home without paying any stamp duty at all.

First-time buyers will no longer pay stamp duty up to £425,000, and the value of the property on which first-time buyers can claim relief, has risen from £500,000 to £625,000.

The tax cut takes effect from midnight today (23rd September).

The chancellor also announced he will further support homebuyers by increasing the disposal of surplus government land to build new homes.

The corporation tax rise has also been cancelled, keeping it at 19% as government sets sights on a 2.5% trend of growth.

In addition, the basic rate of income tax will be slashed to 19% in April 2023, with 31 million people getting £170 more per year, on average.

Lastly, the government’s Energy Price Guarantee will save the typical household £1,000 a year on their energy bill with the Energy Bill Relief Scheme halving the cost of business energy bills.

“Economic growth isn’t some academic term with no connection to the real world,” said Kwarteng, “it means more jobs, higher pay and more money to fund public services, like schools and the NHS.

“This will not happen overnight, but the tax cuts and reforms I’ve announced today — the biggest package in generations — send a clear signal that growth is our priority.

“Cuts to stamp duty will get the housing market moving and support first-time buyers to put down roots.”

The government is in discussions with 38 local and mayoral combined authority areas in England — including Tees Valley, South Yorkshire and West of England — to set up investment zones in specific sites within their area.

Each zone will offer targeted and time-limited tax cuts for businesses and liberalised planning rules to release more land for housing and commercial development.

“New investment zones will bring business investment and release land for new homes in communities across the country,” the chancellor added.

“We want businesses to invest in the UK; we want the brightest and the best to work here and we want better living standards for everyone.”

Industry experts react to the chancellor's mini-budget announcement

This page will be updated throughout the day with comments from industry experts — stay tuned to read the latest opinions from the market.

3:20pm

James Leach, CEO at Ashman Bank:

“While there were many headline-grabbing statements from the chancellor today, the fact this government is placing planning and housing among the top of his priorities is hugely welcome. Removing barriers for property developers to get Britain building by reforming the planning system, and with the clear commitment to continue increasing the UK’s housing stock, are both critical to the future of the UK economy. The stamp duty cuts are equally welcome in stimulating the property market across the country.

“While the detail remains to be seen in the new planning bill, we hope that the government will include a key focus on how the planning system can incentivise and promote sustainable housebuilding. The government should work with the industry and banks focused in this area to ensure not only that barriers to sustainable development are removed, but that progressive strategies that support the government’s drive to net zero are incentivised.”

1:15pm

Paul Frost, managing director at Puma Property Finance:

"Today’s mini-budget was about the new government making its mark and setting out its agenda to reboot the economy and ease the cost-of-living crisis.

"On the face of it, we’re encouraged by its commitment to enterprise and innovation, and we saw a clear focus on reducing regulation and promoting tax cuts in a bid to achieve growth.

"The government has also set out some measures to tackle the more intractable problem of increasing supply of housing, as well as focusing on encouraging demand. Steps such as unpicking planning restrictions and disposing of surplus government land that can be used to build homes will aid this.

"We hope that in the immediate drive for growth, the sustainability agenda and the path to net zero remains a high priority. Economic growth and sustainable development should not be viewed as being in conflict with one other, indeed quite the contrary. If the prime minister aspires for the UK to be energy self-sufficient in the future, achieving that will involve controlling the demand for energy — to which improving the sustainably and efficiency of our housing and commercial property stock is a critical part — just as much as it will require tackling the sources of UK energy production.” 

1pm

Ed Rimmer, CEO at Time Finance: “The government wants to create a nation of entrepreneurs and while the emphasis for today’s mini-Budget was rumoured to be on reducing costs, there are some signs that the Chancellor is looking at the bigger picture to stimulate economic growth.

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"That said, changes to income tax, national insurance and stamp duty beg the question of how the government is costing its plans. Today’s mini-Budget has not been accompanied by forecasts from the OBR, so its impact on borrowing and economic growth are unknown — that’s something we need to have sight of."

12:30pm

Adrian Anderson, director at Anderson Harris:

“We have a scenario where the government are trying to turbo charge the economy with huge tax cuts while the Bank of England are trying to put the brakes on with high interest rate rises; I think many of us will find this scenario very confusing. 

"Are the measures announced in the mini-budget by the government today sending mixed messages? Does the left hand know what the right is doing?

"The measures announced will help put more money into the economy in the short-term; however, it does not solve the main issue for many of us, which is soaring interest rates and a cost of living crisis. If interest rates continue to rise quickly, many borrowers will have far less disposable income and there will be many who may be unable to pay their mortgages.

"The stamp duty cut will be welcomed by home buyers as everybody purchasing a new property will benefit — the announcement is especially good for first-time buyers and those living within London and the South East who can claim a discount (relief) on purchases up to £625,000.”

11:02am

William Matthews, partner in Knight Frank’s capital markets team:

"For all the discussion of the topic of productivity in recent months, these announcements are relatively light on measures to stimulate growth at a fundamental level. New investment zones arguably address this need, as does allowing pension funds greater scope to invest in much needed infrastructure projects. The absence of a deeper discussion on education, technology, health, climate and other building blocks of prosperity, however, opens up an interesting opportunity for the real estate sector to help address these needs." 

11:00am

Stuart Law, CEO at Assetz Group: 

“An SDLT cut will undoubtedly support many FTBs and buyers on lower incomes, granting more people access to the housing ladder by offsetting increasing mortgage rates and rising house prices. But, an SDLT cut is going to stimulate demand further at a time when it is already vastly outstripping supply and that’s only going to send prices one way. An SDLT cut gives with one hand and takes away with the other. While buyers save up-front, they will likely see those savings cancelled out through their mortgage repayments, because of house price growth. An even worse situation would be that interest rates keep going up, potentially driven by house prices being supported further, and buyers’ savings on SDLT are eclipsed when they come to remortgage.

“The only way to truly support the housing market long term is to stimulate supply so it better balances demand, with affordability as the natural outcome. In that sense, the proposals announced by the government to reform the planning system are exactly what’s needed, just not in tandem with a huge demand stimulus at a time when it is already impossible for the housing sector to keep up with demand at its current level."  

10:58am

Mark Robinson, managing director at Albion Forest Mortgages:

"Some great announcements for the housing market, if slightly short-sighted. FTBs will definitely be pleased with the changes to stamp duty. In my opinion, the changes have been long overdue as house prices have soared. With the higher rate of tax being scrapped, it will be interesting to see what moves lenders will make in the coming months.”

10:55am

Edgar Rayo, chief economist at Finanze: 

"The increase in the stamp duty threshold to £425,000 for FTBs will certainly jump-start market activity again as this accommodates buyers in the higher price range. The government is counting on the rich to save more and channel this into the banking sector, which can then lend more to households. However, taxpayers need to be aware of the imminent budget deficit from these policies since no windfall tax has been mentioned by Kwarteng."

10:53am

Mark Harris, chief executive at SPF Private Clients:

"With mortgage rates continuing to rise, this reduction in stamp duty will be more important than ever. The fact that it is permanent is also welcome as it won’t lead to spikes in activity as people rush to take advantage."

10:50am

Eddie Tuttle, director of policy, public affairs and research at CIOB:

“We have for some time been calling on the government to implement a national retrofit strategy to improve the energy efficiency of UK homes, for example through better insulation and reducing heat loss from doors and windows. Hopefully, the announced reduction in stamp duty will free up cash for some homebuyers and enable them to make such changes.

"These types of retrofit measures will drive down energy consumption and bills, while also improving the health and wellbeing of residents in the retrofitted homes. Such a strategy would also help contribute to the UK’s legally binding carbon targets, create new jobs, and deliver growth across the country. It should be noted however that not all retrofit schemes require expensive or disruptive work and simple home improvements and maintenance such as fitting draft excluders to doors and lagging pipes can all make a big difference."

10:45am

Mark Arnold, CEO at Kensington Mortgages:

“Today’s announcement is a positive step, although it perhaps focuses overly on FTBs. It doesn't represent wholesale reform and perhaps does not go far enough. While great news for aspiring homeowners, and it will certainly benefit all looking to buy or sell, whether it will encourage greater mobility, and especially downsizing, is more debatable. We need to unlock a greater number of larger homes for growing families to move into, and this FTB-focused package of measures may not accomplish this. We would encourage the treasury to look at ways to incentivise downsizing.

“In any case, the announcement should certainly help to stimulate economic growth. Stamp duty has failed to evolve with the times; its thresholds did not reflect the rampant house price growth of recent years and the tax more broadly disincentivises mobility, vital for economic development. The stamp duty threshold ‘holiday’, introduced to combat the effects of Covid restrictions, should have been made permanent. We commissioned research showing that, at the upper bound estimate, this measure would have been fiscally positive, providing an annual surplus of £139m and 37,000 more property transactions each year. Clearly this econometric modelling has been taken into account when raising the thresholds.”