» Chancellor to help homeowners and developers

A series of measures to help the property market

Article Published: 21st April 2009

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Alistair Darling is expected to announce a series of measures to help the construction industry when he gives his Budget speech tomorrow.

The £1 billion boost would come to the rescue of unfinished housing developments and could include providing funds for roads and other necessary infrastructure.

There are also indications that the Chancellor will extend the suspension of stamp duty on properties costing £175,000 or less until the end of the year.

The Government set itself a target of building 240,000 new homes by 2016 and the numbers have fallen far short since the global credit crisis as developers have been unable to find buyers for properties and have left many developments unfinished.

The government will also be launching a Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme which they hope will help the thousands of homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes due to a lack of income through job loss. Homeowners with mortgages of up to £400,000 and savings of less than £16,000 will be offered help with interest payments for up to two years if they have had to accept a sudden drop in income. Homeowners will be required to put up 30% of the money for the repayments and will have to pay the whole amount back once their situation improves.