Pensioners Win, Banks Pay: Who Gained and Lost in Healey's Budget

Banks will pay a combined £1.5bn extra to the Treasury over 15 months after John Healey's first budget as chancellor doubled the bank corporation tax surcharge from 3% to 6% — and bank shares still rose, because investors had braced for worse. That trade-off captures the shape of a budget that handed concrete gains to pensioners, first-time buyers and cider makers while squeezing savers, landlords and betting shops.

Who came out ahead?

The state pension rises to £13,036 next April, and pensioners get a new matching personal allowance at the same time. The allowance lifts all income they receive to that level out of tax.

Households in band A-D properties in England get a guaranteed £100 payment toward winter energy costs from January. Other parts of the UK received funding to replicate it.

First-time buyers with small savings gained a route into ownership. The Your First Home scheme accepts deposits as low as 2.5% on newbuild homes, open to households earning up to £140,000 in London and £110,000 elsewhere in England.

Young entrepreneurs in England get a new allowance covering living costs in their first year of business. Self-employed fathers qualify for two weeks of paternity pay — currently worth up to £194 a week — from April 2029.

Independent cider makers and brewers benefit from more generous tax reliefs for small alcohol producers, helping 2,000 businesses. A new "guest beer" rule forces tied pubs in England and Wales to stock their drinks.

EV drivers without home charging save roughly £150 a year, thanks to £100m in subsidies for on-street charging — but only at lower-powered public chargers.

Cash Isa savers under 65 keep their allowance next April, after Healey reversed a cut announced in last year's budget. They'll also get a still-unannounced incentive for buying stocks and shares for the first time.

Even marmalade gets cheaper. Tariff removals on more than 100 products — gherkins and garlic included — could cut its price by 20%.

Who picked up the bill?

Savers holding money outside Isas face sharper tax bills. The tax on interest was already set to rise next April; Healey added two percentage points on top. Once a basic-rate saver exhausts the tax-free allowance on interest, they'll pay 24% on returns. Higher-rate taxpayers pay 44%; additional-rate payers, 49%.

Buy-to-let landlords see property income taxes rise by more than expected, to the same rates. Scotland applies different rates.

Betting shops absorb a slot machine tax hike from 20% to 25% on stakes of £1 or more from April 2027. Gambling shares rose anyway, as investors had feared a bigger increase.

Students on plan 2 loans got nothing. Repayment thresholds stay frozen from next April.

Who slipped through the cracks?

The Resolution Foundation counts 1.4 million of the poorest families missing out on the £100 energy rebate, because the payment uses council tax bands and skips poor households in band E and above.

The Office for Budget Responsibility warns the landlord tax rises could feed a steady climb in rents. It says the extra cost, combined with other measures from recent years, may push landlords out of the market and keep new investors away.

Urban communities lose a nature safeguard. Healey is removing the biodiversity net gain requirement for brownfield plots up to 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres) in England, exempting developers from building in nature gains on smaller sites.

The overall arithmetic points one way: households and retirees collect targeted, mostly modest support, while property investors, savers and the banking sector cover the cost — with the OBR's rent warning suggesting private tenants may ultimately share that bill.