Announcements for businesses

Support for smaller businesses

The Chancellor reported that the UK’s small and medium sized enterprises now employ 15.6 million people, up from 13.7 million in 2010. Over the last two years the number of small businesses employing someone other than the owner has grown by 100,000.

The government understands that small businesses need tailored support. Already, Start-Up Loans have provided £180 million of funding to 33,600 entrepreneurs and in the last Parliament, the government cut the cumulative burden of regulation by over £10 billion.

Other support for smaller businesses that have previously been announced include:

• From April 2016 the Employment Allowance will rise to £3,000, benefiting over 1 million employers, and helping many businesses take on their first employee.
• The cancellation of the planned September 2015 fuel duty increase means a small business with a van will have saved £1,357 by the end of 2015-16 compared to plans inherited by the government at the start of the last Parliament.
• The government will meet its commitment to 75,000 Start-Up Loans by the end of this Parliament.

Apprenticeship levy

Earlier this year it was announced that three million new apprenticeships would be created by 2020. To fund this target a levy is to be made on large employers.

The details of this levy have now been quantified.

The apprenticeship levy will commence in April 2017 at a rate of 0.5% of the employers’ pay bill. To exclude smaller employers a £15,000 allowance can be claimed. In this way only employers with a pay bill in excess of £3 million will contribute to the levy.

In some cases this levy may cancel out the intended reductions in Corporation Tax for larger employers.

Small business rate relief

English firms can claim the small business rates relief if they only use one property and its rateable value is less than £12,000. This relief was due to end on 31 March 2016.

The Chancellor has announced today that the relief will be extended for a further year. Businesses will now get 100% relief until 31 March 2017 for properties with a rateable value of £6,000 or less. This means you won’t pay business rates on properties with a rateable value of £6,000 or less.

The rate of relief will gradually decrease from 100% to 0% for properties with a rateable value between £6,001 and £12,000.

Car benefit diesel supplement

The 3% supplement added to the benefit in kind charge for drivers of diesel powered company cars is to continue beyond April 2016 and will now cease to apply from April 2021.

Announcements for home owners

London help to buy loan scheme

The present help to buy loan scheme that applies across the UK, provides a 20% contribution from government, requires a 5% deposit from the buyer, with the balance funded by a 75% mortgage.

As house prices are running at much higher levels in London, from early 2016 qualifying buyers in London will still need to find a 5% deposit, but government will contribute up to 40% with the required mortgage funding dropped to 55%.

These government equity loans will now be available until 2021.

Help to buy shared ownership sche