The Budget 2018 announced that there will be more help for first-time buyers and plans for homes on the High Street.

According to the HM Treasury, most first-time buyers of shared ownership properties will now no longer have to pay stamp duty under the new measures set out by Chancellor Phillip Hammond. It will apply to all shared ownership homes worth up to £500,000 and backdated to anyone who has bought one since last year's budget.

Kevin Roberts, the director of the Mortgage Club at Legal & General, said that the "government clearly recognises the benefits" of shared ownership and he hoped the announcement would boost awareness of the scheme.

The Chancellor confirmed that the Help to Buy scheme would end in 2023 which is an extension of 2 more years as it was due to end in April 2021. This was after Mr Hammond said that the housing market needed to be fixed as it was key to boosting UK productivity and living standards.

This comes at a time where the UK is facing a shortage of housing. The number of homes on the market is at a 10-year low and fewer people are taking out mortgages.

Will more homes be built? The future is looking better for first-time buyers

The Chancellor promised that there will be an extra £500 million for the Housing Infrastructure Fund. The Fund is a pot of money that local councils can apply to for help with building homes.

This investment should help to build 650,000 more homes and deals have been made with nine housing associations to deliver 13,000 homes across England.

The Chancellor also announced that he wants to see more SME's building houses and to encourage this there will be British business bank guarantees of up to £1 billion.

The cap on councils which limits their ability to borrow money to build council houses will be scrapped, which will encourage the building of more houses.

Homes to be built on the High Street

There is a plan to invest £1.5 billion to help the UK's struggling High Streets. Part of this money could be spent on turning empty or unused High Street shops into homes.

"If British High Streets are to remain at the centre of our community life, they will need to adapt," Mr Hammond said.

The systems and processes of converting commercial buildings into homes will be simplified.

This shows us that positive steps have been taken to address the housing crisis and could benefit you.

The Federation of Master Builders said that "Mr Hammond had taken positive steps to address the housing crisis." Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB estimated that as many as 300,000 new homes could be created by making use of empty space above shops on High Streets.