For once there was some encouraging news for first-time buyers, who are to be helped on the property ladder by a shared equity scheme and £250m fund. First-time buyers in households earning less than £60,000 will be offered interest-free loans to help them get a foot on the ladder and buy a new-build property.

Since 2008, it’s been increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to get that break into buying property, so this could eventually help take some of the strain off demand for rental housing.

Although benefits from this may seem unlikely for landlords, the void is not going to be filled immediately, it will only apply to new builds and there should still be a strong demand for rental property. Industry insiders believe that if this move helps aid the recovery of the market, it could have a positive knock-on effect for other areas of the property world.

George Osborne’s budget made the announcement that the government will begin to look at introducing easier ways for property owners to convert commercial buildings into residential properties. The idea behind it is that it will help increase the number of new homes in the UK, helping to ease the shortage of sought-after housing. This could well be good news for property investors and landlords, as it opens up more potential for creating rental properties.

Not everyone is convinced that the government have thought it through though, and some people are concerned that the plans could be damaging in areas where local councils don’t think new homes are required. This is one issue to keep an eye on though, to how the plan develops further and the scheme that is eventually introduced.

There was also news on the much-debated stamp duty front, with the government revealing that it will reform the stamp duty land tax rules that apply to bulk purchases and crackdown on stamp duty land tax avoidance schemes. In the autumn, they also plan to announce their review of the stamp duty relief scheme for first time buyers.

The stamp duty holiday applies to property valued at under £175,000 and means that buyers don’t have to pay any stamp duty on their purchases. This can make a significant difference and save a good chunk of money.

The stamp duty holiday was came into effect on 3rd September 2008, originally running until April 2009, but it was subsequently extended until 31st December 2009. No further extensions have been announced, so it looks likely that it will finally come to a halt at the end of the year.

Assuming it does all end, from 1st Jan 2010, buyers will again be faced with paying 1% fees for stamp duty on all properties with a value of over £125,000.

According to organisations such as the Home Builders Federation, the Building Societies Association and the National Association of Estate Agents, the stamp duty holiday has had a significant effect on the number of property sales this year, which has helped stop the market from becoming too stagnated. They’re concerned that reinstating it could have further detrimental effects and are calling on Chancellor Alistair Darling to extend the scheme until the end of 2010.

For property investors choosing to buy distressed property, they may not be affected by the change, as many properties are available at a greatly reduced price and fall into £125,000 or under price bracket anyway.

But if you’re an investor who likes to have a range of different properties in your portfolio, perhaps by balancing out rental flats or smaller properties with larger homes, and are likely to buy in the higher price range, then you need to get cracking with your purchases now!