Here are the winners and losers from today’s Autumn Statement
It's been a rough day for the UK's economic forecasts, but the revelations from chancellor Philip Hammond's first Autumn Statement weren't all bad. Here are some of the biggest winners and losers from the speech:
Winners
Companies will be cheering after Hammond confirmed that he will be cutting corporation tax to 17 per cent by 2020.
The chancellor announced a raft of measures to support the housebuilding industry, including a new infrastructure fund that will open up new land for development and a £3.15bn fund to build affordable homes in London.
Savers will be offered a government-backed investment bond at the next budget. The three-year bond will offer a 2.2 per cent interest rate on deposits of up to £3,000.
The Ministry of Justice has been handed emergency funding to help it tackle unsafe prisons.
The national living wage will increase to £7.50 an hour next April, benefiting low-paid workers.
Losers
The OBR has cut its forecast for UK growth for the next five years due to the impact of Brexit.
Landlords and letting agents will be feeling frustrated after the chancellor's speech. He has banned letting agent fees and says that landlords should be footing the bill. There was also no reversal of George Osborne's stamp duty hike for second homes.
The deficit will no longer be cut by the end of the parliament.
Your tax-free gym membership has taken a hit. The chancellor said that employee salary sacrifice schemes will no longer be tax exempt.
And finally, the biggest loser of them all: the Autumn Statement. Hammond said that this would be his first, and his last Autumn Statement; he is abolishing it because he does not want to make "significant changes twice a year just for the sake of it". Instead, there will be an autumn budget followed by a spring update that will not be a "major fiscal event".