What did our experts think of the Budget?
Speaking to Myfinances ahead of the Budget, industry experts on property, investments, tax and pensions outlined their hopes and predictions.
Were they disappointed or pleasantly surprised?
Steve Bee, head of pensions strategy for Scottish Life, explained the the best outcome for pensions in the Budget would have been an empty briefcase.
After years of meddling with the system, confidence is starting to drain away, Mr Bee explained and the best way to restore it would be to present a Budget with "no surprises".
However, the chancellor had other plans and dropped a bombshell in the shape of reduced tax relief for higher earners on their pension contributions.
This only applies to the rich, so should we really care what happens to the fat cats?
But we should all be worried, according to Mr Bee.
"People are going to get taxed twice on their earnings and that is a bad precedent to set - we should all be worried about that," he says.
Scrapping higher rate tax relief for top earners "sends out the wrong message" about pensions, Mr Bee adds.
"Now people don't know where they stand. It doesn't seem the most straightforward or sensible way to raise income," he says.
Experts will not be able to advise top earners to save in their pension until they know if it will be worthwhile, and they won't know until the government ends its consultation.
Until then, there will be uncertainty in the industry.
"There is a blizzard of pension legislation in the UK. It is the enemy of our pension system. Sooner or later people are going to get fed up with it," he warns.
Dr Ros Altmann, economist and adviser to the pensions industry, was also concerned about what the pension changes may mean for society.
"As far as pensions and pension funds go, the Budget has made things worse. We could be in the worst pensions crisis for years - and it could turn out to be even more damaging than the financial crisis," she says.
Dr Altmann is concerned that the removal of higher-rate tax relief for the rich could have a knock on effect for the rest of society.
"If bosses aren't bothered with their own pensions, because the government hasn't made them attractive, then they may not bother with them for their workers either."
However, there was some good news in the Budget, Dr Altmann adds.
"The change in the pension credits which increases the capital from £6,000 to £10,000 is good, but it doesn't come in until November and it still assumes that people are earning ten per cent interest on their savings!
"It is a welcome change but not nearly enough," she says.
Ray Boulger, senior technical manager for mortgage experts John Charcol, also had his high hopes for the Budget dashed.
Ahead of the speech, Mr Boulger told Myfinances he would like to see a suspension of stamp duty and a mortgage guarantee scheme that would encourage prospective buyers with smaller deposits back into the market.
What we got was an extension of the current higher stamp duty threshold of £175,000 and a £50 billion mortgage guarantee scheme for Triple A-rated assets.
Did this go far enough to help buyers with little or no equity?
"Merely extending the current stamp duty does very little," Mr Boulger says, "and arguably, some people will now think they have until December to buy a house, so there is no rush.
"As far as the mortgage guarantee scheme goes, there is nothing there that I was hoping for.
"Since the Budget, the general view in the property industry is it is going to make very little difference.
"It will only be available to a small amount of lenders, as it is not open to specialist lenders, and the high cost means few will actually want to take it up," he adds.
Mr Boulger says he was expecting to be disappointed by the Budget, although he adds the government "lacked foresight" and could have done more for the market at little extra cost.
For example, the money that the government will lose from offering cash to people scrapping their old cars to buy new ones will be made up by the income generated by VAT on the new car.
Mr Boulger believes that the revenue the government would lose through suspending stamp duty could be clawed back through the benefit to the economy of a liquid housing market, and the increase in spending that buying a house inspires.
Overall, the property measures outlined in the Budget do not impress Mr Boulger.
"I don't think it will make much difference to the average person," he says.
Sarah Routledge
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