Newcastle Building Society Comment on Autumn Statement

Steve Urwin, Managing Director, Sales and Marketing at Newcastle Building Society, says: “The Chancellor’s commitment to increasing the supply of homes across the UK and enabling more people to get onto the housing ladder dovetails perfectly with the Newcastle’s core strategy of helping as many first time buyers as we can save for and then own their own homes.

“The introduction of the Help to Buy scheme has had a clear and positive impact on the housing market in our heartland area, and our own Help to Buy ISA, which we will be launching on 1 December as the scheme is introduced across the UK, will add another very useful savings option for first time buyers across the region.

“With the economic recovery taking hold, the Buy To Let market has seen something of a resurgence over the last couple of years, and it will be interesting to see what the impact on the market will be next year when the three per cent increase in stamp duty for buy-to-let properties and second homes that the Chancellor announced in his speech comes into force.”