The Chancellor, Phillip Hammond, has delivered his second budget and used it to urge the UK to "seize the opportunities" from Brexit while tackling deep-seated economic challenges "head on".

As many expected, there was a larger focus on housing than in previous budgets, announcements included local authorities to be allowed to levy 100% council tax surcharge on empty homes, £44bn injected over the next 5 years to support housing market, promises of 300k new homes built per year and most notably the abolishing of Stamp Duty for first-time buyer purchases up to £300,000. For purchases up to £500k the first £300k is also exempt for first time buyers .