“We want to turn generation rent into generation buy” declared Chancellor Rishi Sunak in his Budget day speech as he rattled off measures to boost home ownership.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer looked less than impressed. He’d heard much the same from the Cameron government when they were in power, he said.

The end result was below par, he inferred. It didn’t deliver what it said on the tin.

Back in Bucks, office staff of Inland Homes like most people in white collar jobs have been working from home during lockdown.

Their Beaconsfield-based company is a brownfield specialist. It’s one of the largest firms in the UK creating new communities on land which has been built on before.

Sales and marketing director Vicki Noon watched the televised speech being delivered in the House of Commons as it happened.

The two main announcements affecting the house market in Chancellor Sunak’s second budget were the mortgage guarantee scheme to help first time buyers get a loan for 95 per cent of the price of their new home, and also the extension to the present stamp duty holiday on properties up to £500,000 which has been in existence since last July.

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The previous rate will be reintroduced gradually, said Mr Sunak, starting in June and increasing in stages until it reaches the climax in September.

“We’re thrilled the Chancellor announced extra support for homebuyers especially first time buyers who are our main target market,” said Vicki Noon.

She added: “The government mortgage guarantee scheme will help buyers with just a five per cent deposit make that all important first step onto the property ladder, while the stamp duty holiday extension is helpful for purchasers who were hoping to complete [the transaction] by the [previous] March 31 deadline but have been unable to, due to very high demand.”

Not everyone was pleased with the reprieve. Some pointed out disadvantages.

Lee Pickett, a specialist in housing law for a global company called DWF said: “We have certainly seen developers concerned about unhappy customers who through no fault of theirs will miss out on the stamp duty holiday due to their new home not being ready for legal completion in time.

“Equally, various supply chain and labour availability pressures resulting from the pandemic and/or Brexit are likely to be key factors in developers being unable to deliver homes before expiry of the SDLT concession period.”

He added: “There is an alternative view that the market was functioning well enough when the stamp duty holiday was introduced and it simply pushed up prices, removed the advantage first time buyers had and reduced tax revenue at a time when it is most needed.

“Perhaps the compromise might have been to distinguish between transactions and chains involving new builds and those which only involve existing housing stock.

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“That, however, is not what the Chancellor decided. Perhaps it was to do with simplicity of application among other factors.”

By yesterday evening, the Budget had become just the latest hurdle for taxpayers to take in their stride.

Main challenge for the sales team at Inland Homes was to find buyers for the remaining apartments at the Centre Square development in Wycombe (one beds from £227,500, two beds from £305,000 – nil rate stamp duty for one bedroom flats here sold before September 1) - and also for similar sized apartments at Inland’s Venue complex in Maidenhead.