London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, Sep 21, 2025

Budget 2021: 10 ways Rishi Sunak's speech affects you

Budget 2021: 10 ways Rishi Sunak's speech affects you

With lives and livelihoods still at risk, Chancellor Rishi Sunak's Budget is focused on short-term support for people's jobs and finances.

But there are signs of what will happen next and how this will affect the money in your pocket.

1. Paying the wages of those on furlough


Although it was announced in advance, like many other key measures, the extension of furlough is significant for millions of people.

The scheme - which pays 80% of employees' wages for the hours they cannot work in the pandemic - has been extended until September.

Young and lower-paid people have been among the most likely to have been furloughed during the pandemic.

While this is designed to protect their jobs from redundancy, many will have found that their income has been a fifth less than they had anticipated over the course of 18 months.

The National Living Wage will rise to £8.91 from April, from £8.72. That is a 2.2% rise and will be for people aged 23 and over.


2. Jabs, then jobs


Money promised for the vaccine rollout does not directly affect the amount of money that goes into the pockets of individuals.

But the extra £1.65bn to help vaccinate every adult by the end of July should mean people can get back to work and the economy can start to recover.

Quicker jabs mean more jobs protected, which means that incomes can recover or be maintained.

3. Support for the self-employed


Furlough supports employed people. The equivalent for the self-employed comes in the form of grants through the Coronavirus Self-Employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

From next month, claims can be made for a fourth grant worth 80% of three months' average trading profits, up to £7,500 in total.


This will then be followed by a fifth grant later in the year, covering May to September.

However, the amount paid will depend on the amount of turnover lost. People whose turnover has fallen by less than 30% will receive a grant that is equivalent to 30% of average trading profits.

While many self-employed people remain ineligible - the source of considerable debate - those who can show they were trading in 2019-20 from their tax returns will now be eligible for the first time. They can receive the fourth and fifth grants.

4. Extra £20 a week on universal credit continues


Another source of speculation for months has been the future for a £20-a-week top-up to universal credit.

This has been described as a financial lifeline during the pandemic for many of those who have lost jobs or whose finances were already stretched.

The chancellor said this would continue for another six months, but would then be withdrawn.

Those on working tax credits will receive a one-off £500 payment.


5. Pay rises may bring a tax shock


The government pledged in its manifesto not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.

Although income tax is not rising, the tax bill that people may face in future years could go up.


At present, people start paying 20% income tax when they earn £12,500 a year. The starting point for paying the higher 40% rate is £50,000.

These thresholds will go up to £12,570 and £50,270 in April, but will then be frozen for five years.

With these thresholds maintained at the same level until April 2026, many people receiving a pay rise may find themselves in a new tax bracket and having to pay more.

The government's official forecaster said this would mean 1.3 million more people paying income tax and one million more paying the higher rate of tax.


That will raise a significant amount of money for the Treasury, estimated to be an extra £8bn a year by 2025-26, compared to what would have been the case if thresholds rose in line with the cost of living.

Scotland has some tax-raising powers of its own.

6. Finding the deposit for a mortgage


The chancellor confirmed that a government guarantee means first-time buyers should get a wider choice of mortgages that require a deposit of just 5% of the loan.

This will be available when buying properties worth up to £600,000.


However, some potential homeowners may still find it hard to get a mortgage if they do not have a regular income, while getting into negative equity if house prices fall is a threat.

The new products will be available from next month.

However, while there is support for homeownership, there are no specific policies to help those behind on their rents.

7. Stamp duty holiday extended


This tax break for homebuyers in England and Northern Ireland - as well as similar relief in Scotland and Wales - was due to finish at the end of March. This created a rush, as well as difficulties for some buyers to complete in time.

The chancellor has now said that the current stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland - which means no stamp duty is paid on the first £500,000 of a property purchase - will be extended until 30 June.


This relief will be reduced to the first £250,000 of a purchase until the end of September, before returning to its pre-pandemic level of £125,000 from the start of October.

In total, 46% of sales would be exempt from stamp duty as a result of this policy, according to property portal Zoopla.

8. Wine and beer duties frozen


All duties on alcohol will stay as they are, for a second year in a row. These had been earmarked to rise.

9. Cost of petrol duties unchanged


There has been a freeze on fuel duty for a decade and this will continue for at least another year.

About 60% of the price you pay for fuel is tax - a mixture of fuel duty and VAT.

10. Saving green


There will be a new savings product designed to raise money for environmental projects.

This "green bond" will be issued by the government-backed National Savings and Investments (NS&I), which has been criticised by savers and MPs for its customer service performance during the pandemic.

It will be issued in the summer, but there are no details yet on the interest rate that will be paid to savers.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Alibaba Debuts Open-Source Deep Research Agent with Benchmarks Rivaling OpenAI
Marcos Faces Legacy-Defining Crisis as Flood Projects Scandal Sparks Massive Tide of Protests
China’s Micro-Drama Boom Turns Stalled Real Estate Projects into Lavish Film Sets
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
'Company Got 5,189 H-1B Visas, Then Laid Off 16,000 Americans': US Defends New $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Golf legend tells Omar she should be 'sent back to Somalia' after her Kirk comments
EU Set to Bar Big Tech from New Financial Data Access Scheme
China Bans Livestreaming and AI in Religion Amid Crackdown on Shaolin Temple Scandal
Documents Reveal Mandelson Failed to Declare Epstein-Funded Flights as MP in 2003
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Harris Memoir Sparks Backlash from Democrats for Blunt Critiques in ‘107 Days’
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Japan’s ‘Death-Tainted’ Homes Gain Appeal as Prices Soar in Tokyo
Massive Attack Withdraws from Spotify Over Daniel Ek’s €600M Defence-AI Investment
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders Third Lethal Strike on Drug-Trafficking Vessel as U.S. Expands Maritime Counter-Narcotics Operations
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
Why Google Search Is Fading and AI Is Taking Its Place
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Federal Judge Dismisses Trump’s Fifteen-Billion-Dollar Suit Against New York Times, Orders Refile
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
DeepSeek Claims R1 Model Trained for only $294,000, Sparking Global Debate Over China’s AI Capabilities
SoftBank Vision Fund to Cut Nearly Twenty Percent of Staff in Bold AI Strategy Shift
Intel’s Next-Gen Manufacturing Gets a Lifeline from Nvidia’s Strategic $5B Deal
Erika Kirk Elected CEO of Turning Point USA After Husband Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
×