Budget 2016: what a landlord, young family, entrepreneur, first-time buyer and unemployed mum want

What should be in the Budget briefcase? We’ve been asking people from all walks of life…

On Wednesday George Osborne will deliver his 2016 Budget statement.

There have already been stark warnings that he will need to cut further or raise taxes if he is to meet his pledge to achieve a surplus by the end of the Parliament. So what should he do?

We’ve been asking a selection of people from all walks of life what they would like to see in this year’s Budget – then considering how likely it is to happen.

The landlord

Victoria, 65, is a retired civil servant with a portfolio of five rental properties. We asked her what she would like the chancellor to do and she was very clearly angry: “I want him to stop behaving as if all landlords are greedy or as if we are all a problem. I provide high quality homes, I maintain them to a high standard and I am on excellent terms with all my tenants who know they have security and that I won’t kick them out on a whim.

“Landlords like me are not a problem, we are a solution – there is not enough social housing and so where exactly are people supposed to find rental accommodation without us? People move around for work more than ever and they need the flexibility of a secure rental sector with good quality properties like mine.

"But with this government you’d think we’re personally responsible for the housing crisis, as if we’re all vultures. I’d like him to get some sense and undo the damage of cutting mortgage tax relief and increasing the stamp duty we pay.

“Yes he should do more about rogue landlords, although I think that’s more for local councils, but I wish he’d stop hammering us.”

However, in his last Autumn Statement the Chancellor stated: “Frankly, people buying a home to let should not be squeezing out families who can’t afford a home to buy”. So it seem unlikely that his measures against the buy-to-let sector will be repealed any time soon.

The young family

Alice, 28, and her husband have three preschool children and for them childcare is the biggest issue. “The nursery bills make it unaffordable for both of us to work full time,” she explains, “because the cost of childcare would be more than our mortgage. In fact, with three children in nursery the cost would be more than all our monthly bills combined and it just doesn’t make sense.

“We’re really pleased about the plan to increase the funded childcare to 30 hours a week, although I’m not totally sure when that is supposed to happen. Then it would make sense for us both to work full time, which would mean we pay more tax and probably earn more in the long run too.

"But I did read that it’s not being properly paid for. I know there’s a shortage of good nursery places in our area and we’ve been told that will get even worse when the hours increase because the Government doesn’t pay nurseries enough to do it.

“So what the Chancellor could do for us is make sure the extra hours are definitely going to happen, because it’s going to make a big difference if it works. I know that it costs a lot of money but then more parents will be able to work and pay tax, which has got to be good for the economy.”

There have been growing calls from the nursery sector for the Government to address this funding crisis so there could be something in the Budget.

The entrepreneur

Kevin, 34, is a consultant engineer and business owner, although he is the only employee so it’s a very smallscale business at the moment. In the long term he would like to expand his company but in the shorter term he is worried about tax laws.

“I want to pay the right amount of tax,” he insists, “you start talking about tax as a small business and everyone assumes you’re trying to wriggle out of paying it.

 "I agree with paying the right amount of tax, I’m not trying to escape that. But the IR35 rule [the rule designed to stop disguised employees from claiming unfair tax breaks intended for small businesses] is so confusing that it risks affecting legitimate small businesses like mine. I am not a disguised employee, I take a huge amount of risk, I find my own clients and I have no security of income because my main client could just tell me not to come back at any point.

“But the IR35 rules are so complicated that you can’t guarantee you’re on the right side of them, you can even take out insurance against being investigated. [Tax] shouldn’t be up in the air like that, there should be clear rules.”

However, with pledges to crack down on tax evasion and avoidance made in every recent Budget speech, it seems unlikely that Osborne would do anything that could be seen as loosening the laws.

The first-time buyer

James, 32, is a single man living in a popular northern market town. Over the last 10 years he’s saved up a good lump sum for a deposit but he has not yet bought a home.

He says: “Could he just get more homes built? I don’t really know what he can do about it, I don’t really know if it’s an issue for the Chancellor, but my problem isn’t the cost, it’s finding the right place. I know there’s apparently loads of ways you can get help through Help to Buy or something but I don’t want a loan or an equity loan, whatever that is, I want an actual choice of houses.

“Where I live there are very few older homes coming onto the market and I don’t want a tiny cramped new build – I’ve looked at a few but they always seem too small. Maybe he could do something to encourage older people to downsize or to make buy to let less good?

"I don’t know what he can do, but I’d like to see something that frees up more housing stock for people like me who don’t want a shoebox new build.”

We pressed James for some actual policy ideas and he shrugged. “I’m not the Chancellor. He wanted the job, he can sort it out.”

The unemployed mother

Katie, 28, is a single mum of two and is currently out of work.

She admits she’s worried about what might be in the Chancellor’s briefcase. “I never used to pay any attention to politics, but now every time you hear there’s been a new announcement it seems to be cuts. It’s not just that we’re broke, you kind of expect that when you’re between jobs and I am looking for work. It’s also that a lot of the stuff we use has been cut back.

“There are kids’ clubs at the library and our nearest children’s centre has a sensory play place that my two loved because we couldn’t really afford soft play. They are still open but the hours have been cut and I’m worried that they might close if there are more cuts. I’d also like it if he could do something for renters like me. It’s hard enough finding a place when you’re on benefits and now both my two are in school I need to stay in one area so they don’t get moved around.”

Worryingly for Katie, Osborne has already pledged that further cuts may be necessary if he is to balance the books in the face of growing global financial uncertainty.

Have your say

Have your say about what you want to see the Chancellor do on Wednesday in: Budget 2016: what do you think George Osborne should do?

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