The financial services sector has a critical role to play in driving economic growth and investment and we believe these measures would help the UK achieve continued growth and prosperity.

1. Encouraging business and retail investment by:

• launching a campaign to boost public interest in capital markets
• reducing or removing the 0.5 per cent share purchase stamp duty
• issuing a digital gilt to accelerate the digital transformation of the UK’s markets
• reforming MREL regulations to unlock new investment to support SME lending
• replacing the Recovery Loan Scheme with a new Growth Loan Scheme to support UK businesses as they seek to invest and grow
• accepting all recommendations of the Prompt Payment & Cash Flow Review
• publishing a tax roadmap for financial services

2. Enable a thriving housing market for homeowners and renters by

• amending the Lifetime ISA scheme
• making the first-time buyer stamp duty threshold of £425,000 permanent
• reintroducing an equity loan scheme such as Help to Buy for first time buyers, with emphasis on regional variations in property value
• expanding and accelerating the roll out of the First Homes scheme alongside a review of the consumer experience of Shared Ownership

3. Forge a pathway to net zero by 2050, aligned with a just transition by

• issuing sector by sector net zero investment roadmaps to set out policy, spending and regulatory interventions
• creating a government advisory service to provide homeowners with free, independent retrofitting advice and provide certainty for firms involved in retrofitting

Our full submission to the Spring Budget 2024 is available here.