What to expect from the Autumn Statement 2015

BILLIONS of pounds for housebuilding is set to be pledged by Chancellor George Osborne today when he lays out Government plans to spend £4 trillion of tax payers’ money over the next five years.

But Whitehall budgets are also expected to take £20bn of cuts and welfare will also be slashed by £12bn in Mr Osborne’s Autumn Statement and Spending Review.

£7bn is to be promised to prioritise housebuilding, particularly for 400,000 affordable homes in England.

However, the Chancellor is also likely to continue his retreat from the Government’s planned £4.4bn cuts to working tax credits, which were thrown out by the House of Lords last month, with plans to mitigate their effects in the offing today.

Meanwhile, Mr Osborne is also aiming to raise £5bn by targeting tax avoidance.

Details of the Chancellor’s plans have been released to the national media ahead of today’s announcements and the BBC reported Mr Osborne will promise to address a “crisis of home ownership in our country”, pledging a “bold plan to back families who aspire to buy their own home”.

The Chancellor would unveil “the biggest affordable housebuilding programme since the 1970s”, the Treasury said.

Incentives would include £2.3bn paid directly to developers to build starter homes aimed at first-time buyers, who will get a 20% discount on prices up to £450,000 in London and £250,000 elsewhere.

There will also be £4bn to help build 135,000 “Help to Buy: Shared Ownership” homes for households earning less than £80,000 (or £90,000 in London).

£200m is to be promised for 10,000 new homes which tenants can live in for five years at reduced rents while they save for a deposit before they then have “first right” to buy the home.

A further £400m is also being allocated to help build 8,000 specialist homes for older people or people with disabilities.

Already, front line NHS services will get £3.8bn next year – above the rate of inflation.

In the wake of the Paris terrorist massacre, defence spending is also to be increased as outlined in the Strategic Defence and Security Review on Monday.

Schools and international aid are expected to be ring fenced from cuts but other vulnerable departments include local government, the Ministry of Justice and the Home Office, with police services braced for more savings.