Budget 2013: did you see it? What did you like/not like?

[SarahMumsnet]

Morning everyone,

George Osborne will be standing up to give his 2013 Budget at 12.30pm today. With the UK experiencing its longest period of economic stagnation for a century, and the public squeezed between rising fuel costs rise, falling welfare payments and flat-lining wages, the country will be giving him its full attention. In terms of family finances it's possible that the most significant announcement for most of us has been made already: the government outlined its plans for the Tax-Free Childcare Scheme yesterday (read all about it here). But inevitably there'll be plenty more to come - look out for announcements on fuel tax, first time buyers and alcohol (dear to your hearts, we know ... )


Here's a link to the BBC's live stream; for those of you at work who can't see it, we'll post the key announcements as they happen; do tell us what they mean for you.

And for those looking for an at-a-glance rundown of what's been said, we're delighted to welcome back Mark Dampier, head of research at independent financial advisers Hargreaves and Lansdowne, who'll be sending us his bullet-point version of the Budget as soon as possible after Osborne sits down. And Will Hadwen, rights adviser at charity Working Families, which offers advice on advice on employment rights, benefits and tax credits for working parents, will be giving us a breakdown of what the Budget means from their point of view.

Off we go ...

[FannyFifer]

Fuck this shit, I hope to god Scotland votes YES to Independence next year.

[SarahMumsnet]

.. and now the BBC has cut to news, so I'll bow out. Will post links to our experts' rundowns in the thread as they come in ...

[ticklemyboobsofsteel]

I actually, and rather unexpectedly, quite enjoyed Ed Milliband there...!

[SilverSnake]

17/18 borrowing down to 42 - is that because they are trying to kill off poor people so less people to need anything off the govenment?

[Oodsigma]

Half wishing I'd bothered to watch now if Milliband has actually got himself together!

[HolidayArmadillo]

domesticslattern many apologies

[mam29]

More fixation with home ownership ahh!

surly banks have lots of other criteria other than a deposit.
so unless banks ok mortgages then not many deposits given.

I currently live in a new build rented shoebox which has audacity to be sold as a family home would never want to buy one and new houses depreciate faster so greater chance of negative equity.

A few years ago went to my bank barclays we then had combined income of £52k and as responsible lenders they said max 125k cant buy house for that amount round here.

Its not just about the deposit its about monthly amountl, age , duration of loan, employment. I read that banks even take into account childcare costs which are huge .

maybe someone who works in finance could agree here its bit odd.

supports big builders.

I would love to have seen land give so people can build their own wooden homes-maybe im an eco hippy but seen so many on tv and we dont get hurricanes here.

We need much more social housing the half part buy is quite complicated and restricted to specific locations.

Also much better protection for private tennants.
fair rents and rules.

maybe tax on 2nd homes ie holiday homes.

the childcares just deceitful.

no gifts for me, no cuts as they taken it all already.

spending reveiw in june with more cuts.

[Viviennemary]

Well as I don't drink beer and am not a millionaire it was a complete and utter waste of time.

[PainForLife]

mam29 your on spot about the lending criteria..... my brother was a mortgage consultant for a leading bank (has now changed careers due to lack of mortgag lending) he told me even if on paper it seems like a couple would ne given lending most of the time they are declined! usual reasons were "too much borrowing already so no affordability", bad track record with repayments of debt, age factor, employment history, childcare cost also included but at the same time CB & CTC counted towards income.

so as you said it more about affordability to repay the monthly amount taking into account the deposit you have!
so basically you would not obey need a good deposit you would also need to be high earners I.e combined income has to ne realistically over £50k mark and low current borrowing more like no current borrowing.

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

Pretty much more bollocks that won't make anything any better as expected, isn't it?

That home buying scheme is batshit really. If you haven't got a 20% deposit in the bank how are you going to raise what is real terms will be 20/30k+ in in only 3 years to pay it back?! If you are actually wealthy enough to be able to save a 25% deposit in such a short amount of time you're very likely to be better off waiting and seeing if the market drops.

Glad Opp. pointed out they are raging hypocrites re: 50p tax rate at least.

[MoreBeta]

The lowering of beer duty goes completely against the objective of taxing/pricing alcohol equally to stop binge drinking.

The freezing of petrol duty goes completely against the objective of reducing CO2 emissions.

The introduction of home buyer incentives will just be offset by the house builders raising the price of new build homes and banks raising the price of mortgages and will do nothing for people buying a used home.

Reducing corporate tax rates will do nothing to stop multinationals avoiding tax.

Just about every other measure introduced today adds acres of complexity to the tax code.

This is all just meddling. Does my head in.

[teejwood]

TeWi - hypocrites re the 50p tax rate aren't just on the Tory benches.
And no - I'm not a tory voter
Don't drink beer. Not a millionaire (unlike many MP's). And haven't had a pay rise in years. The only thing that is vaguely helpful is petrol not going up.

[solongivewaited]

Don't suppose the employers NI relief will make employing a nanny any cheaper? Anyone have any ideas?

[MoreBeta]

Miliband was no better. All he has to say is borrow and spend!

[teejwood]

Oh - forgot to add can't afford to move house, even with this madcap scheme. Agree would be better to build more social housing.
And agree with what MoreBeta says.
Just don't agree with Osbourne or Balls, or their leaders. We're all just pawns in their game.

[solongivewaited]

Don't suppose the employers NI relief will make employing a nanny any cheaper? Anyone have any ideas?

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

I didn't say they were teejwood all I said was that I was glad it had been pointed out.

[MoreBeta]

Oh and by the way I do wish the Chancellor would stop talking about the deficit coming down.

IT IS STILL A DEFICIT!

THE GOVT IS STILL SPENDOING MORE THAN IT TAKES IN TAXES!

That means the total amount of UK Govt debt will still be going up every year until well beyond this Parliament. This is not good. Look at Cyprus to see where that leads.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

Beta I agree, it is a shambles.

What would you do?

All those praising Milliband - for what? His 'policy' still consists of a levy on the banks and bankers, which is miraculously going to pay for any number of vastly expensive schemes. He has nothing concrete to offer, nothing.

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

Oh dear God now Balls is on.

[FannyFifer]

scottishmerlottish UK is the sinking ship dragging us down with them.

[Sonnet]

MoreBeta - if there was a "like" button I would use it on both your posts

[teejwood]

Appreciate that, TeWi - it just worries me that some people look at e.g. Labour MP's and think "they're one of us" when so very few of them - if any - actually are.
Should probably say that I WAS a long-term Labour voter until Iraq/selling gold reserves/ridiculous borrowing during economic growth.

[MrAnchovy]

@solongivewaited
Don't suppose the employers NI relief will make employing a nanny any cheaper? Anyone have any ideas?

No it won't - not intentionally anyway - this will be a relief from business taxation and as a nanny is not a business expense it doesn't help. However I can see a few possible loopholes which if they aren't closed might make this possible which will discredit the whole scheme.