00:00Chancellor John Healey has delivered his first budget, promising breathing space and a radical
00:04shift in power out of Whitehall. But while the headline numbers sound big, what does it actually
00:08mean for those of us living and working in London? The Treasury has created clear winners and losers
00:13across the capital. From your rent and your commute to the pint at your local pub, here is who comes
00:18out on top and who's left to pick up the tab. Let's start with property. If you're trying to get
00:22onto
00:22London's brutal property ladder, you are one of the budget's biggest winners. The Chancellor unveiled
00:27a new £4.7 billion Your First Home Scheme. Hope starts with a home, a route off the streets,
00:35a secure home to raise your kids, the keys to your own front door. It offers 20% equity loans
00:40with
00:40deposits starting as low as 2.5% with property caps set at £650,000 inside London and £500,000
00:48in
00:49outer boroughs. For roughly 70,000 households, this could be the lifeline they've been waiting for.
00:54But if you already own, rent or let out property in the capital, the news isn't so good. The Chancellor
01:00announced that from April, property owners will have to pay a further two percentage points in income
01:05tax on their rental earnings. The independent budget watchdog, the OVR, warns this squeeze on
01:10private landlords will trigger a steady rise in London rent prices. On top of that, with inflation
01:15now forecast to peak at 3.75% by the start of next year, mortgage holders could see Bank of
01:20England
01:20interest rates pushed up to 4.25% next summer. When it comes to everyday living costs, the Treasury gave
01:26with one hand and quietly took with the other. On energy, two million London households and council
01:31tax bands A to D are outright winners. They'll receive a £100 energy payment for households.
01:41Paid directly into people's bank accounts to deal with rising energy bills. Alongside the scrapping
01:47of gas standing charges and a VAT cut on electricity. But the devil is in the detail. If you earn
01:53a
01:53regular salary in London, the Chancellor kept the freeze on income tax thresholds locked in place
01:57until 2031. In the capital and its surrounding commuter areas, this stealth tax quietly drags hundreds of
02:04thousands more workers into higher tax bands as their income rises. If you have savings, the tax on
02:09savings income jumped to 24% for basic ratepayers and 44% for higher earners from 2027. And in an
02:16unexpected twist, scrapping gas standing charges shifts costs onto actual gas usage, meaning bigger
02:22households and those who own an ARGA, for example, could end up paying up to £50 more a year.
02:27If you rely on London's transport network, City Hall just secured its biggest political victory in
02:33decades. Mercedes-Benz is set to become one of the most powerful city leaders in Europe,
02:38gaining the right to keep a direct share of London's income tax and business rates. That
02:42fiscal devolution unlocks up to £10 billion in borrowing power. Along with the newly introduced
02:47tourist tax, these are genuine funding streams for some of London's biggest infrastructure and
02:51transport projects like the Bakerloo Line Extension and the West London Orbital, as well as the green
02:56light for cross-channel Eurostar trains to stop at Stratford International. But there is a catch for
03:01daily commuters. The Chancellor's figures don't guarantee the current freeze on regulated rail
03:05fares beyond March 2027. Once that cap lifts, ticket prices could jump by 3% or more in line with
03:11inflation. Finally, the divide between local London neighbourhoods and the City of London
03:16couldn't be sharper. The clear winners here are your local high streets. The Chancellor raised the small
03:20business rates relief threshold from £12,000 to £18,000. In practice, that takes 70,000 independent
03:30hospitality and retail venues out of paying business rates entirely, including an estimated 3,500 pubs,
03:373,900 restaurants and more than 2,000 cafes. So who is footing the bill? The City. Banking chiefs were
03:44hit with an
03:44extra 3% surcharge on profits to directly fund energy support for struggling households. While it's far
03:50less than the massive £60 billion sum trade unions were demanding, London's financial powerhouse has
03:56officially been tapped to help fund breathing space for British families. From a £100 energy support
04:03payment to higher rents and stealth tax freezes, John Healy's first budget leaves London walking a
04:08financial tightrope. To find out whether you'll be left better or worse off, head online to The Standard
04:13and use our budget calculator.
