Autumn Statement 2013: what it means for your money

George Osborne has delivered the Autumn Statement for 2013, featuring changes to the State Pension age, energy bills and car tax. Here's what it means for your money.

George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has delivered the Autumn Statement for 2013. In a much-leaked speech, peppered with references to the "difficult decisions" that still need to be made, the Chancellor announced the following measures that may have an impact on your bank balance.

State Pension age

Younger people had better get used to the idea of working well into their twilight years, thanks to a revamping of the way State Pension age will be calculated.

The State Pension age will now be tied to life expectancy, with the aim that people will not spend any more than a third of their life enjoying a pension.

There will be no change to the State Pension age rises previously announced, with it moving to 66 by 2020 and 67 by 2028. But it will now likely move to 68 in the mid-2030s, 69 in the mid-2040s and 70 in the mid-2050s.

Save for your retirement in a tax-free ISA

State Pension increase

The Basic State Pension will increase by £2.95 a week from next April.

Fuel duty freeze

Next year’s fuel duty rise has been cancelled. Fuel had been set to rise by 2p a litre.

Read How to find cheaper diesel and petrol.

Married couple’s tax allowance

The Conservative Party announced at its annual conference that it would be pressing ahead with a married couple’s tax allowance, the details of which were outlined today.

The idea is that if one partner doesn’t use their full personal tax allowance – the amount you can earn before paying income tax – they will be able to pass £1,000 of that allowance on to their spouse.

The new rules apply to anyone who is married or in a civil partnership and is available to all basic rate (20%) taxpayers. It is worth up to £200 a year.

The allowance will be automatically increased in line with the personal tax allowance.

Train fares

Train fares were set to go up by an average of 1% above inflation next year, which would have been 4.1%. However, they will now be kept flat in real terms, meaning they will go up 'only' by the rate of inflation of 3.1%.

Cap on total welfare spending

The Government wants to introduce a formal cap on how much is spent on welfare. Well, some of it. The State Pension and cyclical benefits for jobseekers are not included.

The Chancellor will need to declare the cap for the coming year, and if it’s not met, will have to explain why and face a vote in Parliament.

Tax avoidance measures

The Chancellor announced a wide range of measures aimed at tackling tax avoidance and fraud. These measures will raise £9 billion over the next five years.

Building more homes

£1 billion of loans will be given out to unblock large housing development sites across the UK. The Government wants to regenerate rundown urban estates, as a means of addressing the current housing shortage. Councils will look to sell off social housing in more expensive areas.

Working people in social housing will also be given priority to move if they need to due to their job.

Help to Buy

Help to Buy is the Government’s scheme to help people get on to the housing ladder if they only have a deposit of 5%.

A number of lenders have already signed up, but the Chancellor announced that 'challenger' banks Aldermore and Virgin will begin offering Help to Buy mortgages this month.

Read Help to Buy mortgages explained for more on the scheme.

See the latest mortgage rates, including Help to Buy

Capital Gains Tax

From April 2015 non-UK residents will have to pay Capital Gains Tax when selling residential property in the UK.

Extra 30,000 student places from next year

There will be an extra 30,000 places for students at universities from next year.

The cap on student numbers will also be abolished from 2015. This is all being financed by the selling-off of part of the existing student loans book.

Business rates

There will be a discount worth £1,000 for small businesses on business rates. And future business rate rises will be capped at 2%, rather than being tied to the Retail Prices Index measure of inflation.

Employer National Insurance contributions

Employer National Insurance Contributions – something the Government likes to refer to as the ‘jobs tax’ – will be removed for employees under 21.

Energy bills

For a long time now, whenever an energy provider has put its bills up, one of the things it has blamed has been the so-called ‘green’ levies it has to pay, such as the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) target. This is a legal obligation for energy firms to help people on lower incomes improve the energy efficiency of their homes, for example by providing insulation measures.

However the Government this week announced that it would be consulting on whether it should lower that target, leading to a planned saving of up to £35 per household.

It is also taking over the provision of the Warm Home discount scheme for those on low incomes from the energy firms, which it says will be paid for by money recouped from tax avoidance.

In total, it should mean a saving of around £50 a household. For more read Energy companies to reduce bills after Government says it will cut 'green' obligations.

See if you can switch and save on your energy bills

Topping up your State Pension

A voluntary scheme will be introduced allowing pensioners and those approaching pension age to top up their National Insurance contributions to ensure they get the maximum single-tier State Pension when it's introduced in 2016.

Scrapping car tax discs

Motorists will no longer need to display a tax disc on their vehicle to show that it is fully taxed. Instead the whole process is moving online. A database will be used to identify vehicles which are not registered.

Free school meals

All children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 will receive free school meals from next year.