The Government had little wriggle room in terms of pulling down any extra pennies from our existing borrowing position, so they tinkered with a few things that may score some brownie points but wouldn’t cost a fortune.

They gave additional free rail travel to adult students from 26 to 30 years old, during non-rush hour periods . Hopefully it was enough to keep Jeremy Corbyn and his band of merry men at bay, whilst enticing some students to consider voting Tory.

There was assistance with the Universal Tax Credit fiasco by enabling those in need to gain access more quickly to funds. Instead of the original up to 5 weeks wait, claims should now be dealt with and paid within 5 days. Thankfully a result, for those who were left penniless and often homeless, whilst civil servants pushed paper around their desks.

More house building was offered although still nowhere near enough. 300,000 homes a year for the next  5 years is ‘small potatoes’ by anyone’s standards and although some help is better than none, there are many ways that these numbers could have been increased with little effort or cost.

By merely changing the planning system to make it faster, more amenable, less stressful and improving the Section 106 agreement process, could help reform this tardy procedure ensuring that many more developments would be on the way to construction instead of lying languidly in the ether, while council officials decide whether some minor planning infringement may be a deal breaker, or not..

The removal of Stamp Duty Land Tax SDLT up to £300,000 on purchases up to £500,000 for first time buyers was a good move, and one that will re-attract younger purchasers. It is my view that it did not go far enough as it failed to address first time buyers in the capital who struggle to pull together a large enough deposit. Although probably good for the rest of the UK, it was not so great for revitalising the lethargic London market. The entire SDLT system needs to be overhauled to activate sales in higher priced and London property, as this will attract buyers and sellers to up or downsize and rejuvenate many of the trades that feed from the house moving business, as well as, allowing private landlords to come back into the market, thus reducing rental prices in the long term.

The National Living Wage for those aged 25 and over will increase from £7.50 per hour to £7.83 per hour from April 2018 which is expected to benefit 2 million people and is a step in the right direction.

Bearing in mind the current, tight financial constraints, Philip Hammond produced a steady but uncontroversial budget. It left nothing for the opposition parties to complain about and assisted some of those in most need. The intention to make improvements for the young and those who require assistance was in evidence, but with the dreaded Brexit looming and the purse strings of the UK tightly bound, it was a fine balancing act.

Good for Mr Hammond to show some humour and I applaud him for trying to make some significant improvements in difficult circumstances.

London Property Magazine January 2018