Ahead of the Spring Budget on March 6, the Law Society is calling on the UK government to ‘take the steps needed to enhance growth in legal services’.
In what may turn out to be an election year, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt could unveil crowd pleasing property proposals – with legal experts speculating on murmurs about a ‘99% mortgage plan’ which will ‘go even further than the Help To Buy Scheme’ that saw the 18-35 age group getting on the property ladder with 5% deposits.
The Society have claimed the legal sector provides the UK with a £60M economic boost and with partnerships having ‘access to full expensing and changes to the National Skills Fund for retraining’ that legal services will then have the power to ‘unleash’.
Law Society of England and Wales president Nick Emmerson said: “The Spring Budget is an opportunity for the government to increase growth in legal services.
“By allowing legal partnerships to access full expensing, boosting legal apprenticeships and changing the National Skills Fund so employees can access legal retraining, the government can unleash the legal sector.
“Legal services are an economic powerhouse, worth £60bn annually to the UK economy.
“A strong legal services sector underpins a strong economy across the board.
“Law firms can be found in every region, city and town across England and Wales. Growing legal hubs can be found from Bristol to Newcastle, spreading the benefits of the sector throughout the UK.
Emmerson added:
“We hope the Budget will be used to invest in legal services, so the existing economic strengths of our profession can be unleashed, at minimal cost to the government.”
Predictions about a 1% deposit scheme to get young people on the property ladder, alongside limits on lifetime ISAs have been speculations for this year’s Budget.
Bernadette Bennett, head of Legal Sector at firm Moneypenny, told Legal Futures:
“There have been strong rumours that the Chancellor’s 2024 Budget will seek to provide more help for people wanting to buy their own home. Exactly what this looks like is yet to be seen, but there is an expectation that a new Help to Buy scheme could be announced, along with higher property purchase limits on Lifetime ISAs.
“Alongside this, there are reports the government is considering a scheme allowing young people to get on the property ladder with just a 1% deposit.”
“The 99% mortgage plan would go even further than the Help to Buy scheme, which helped first-time buyers purchase new-build homes with only 5% deposits.”
