While the lack of announcements for the housing industry has been met with disappointment by some, for others it’s more a case of ‘no news is good news’.

Positive economic signs in the form of the forecasted drop in inflation have also been welcomed.

Goodlord lettings platform chief operating officer Tom Mundy says: “Today’s Budget will have raised eyebrows across the sector. Not because of a controversial policy announcement, but because property and housing were completely overlooked.

“As the nation faces a housing squeeze, rising rents, and a potential exodus of landlords, this critical sector barely got a mention. We hope this isn’t a true reflection of the government’s priorities. If decision makers overlook housing, tens of millions feel the effects.”

North London estate agent and former Rics residential chairman Jeremy Leaf also wanted to see more for landlords.

He says: “We wanted to see more from the chancellor, particularly with regard to increasing supply of new homes to keep prices in check, as well as increased support to encourage new landlords and discourage others from leaving the sector.

“In some ways it could be seen as a positive Budget in that the chancellor left the housing sector well alone. The housing market is all about confidence and sometimes you can do more damage by tinkering, so we will give him a B-plus for effort and not doing anything which could have been harmful and compromised activity.”

This view was mirrored by property lender MT Finance, which was also thankful for the absence of any potentially disruptive announcements.

MT Finance director Tomer Aboody says: “The housing market has settled down after the fallout of the mini-Budget and thankfully there doesn’t seem to be anything in this Budget to upset the apple cart.

“It would have been good to see some reform of stamp duty, particularly for downsizers, to encourage more transactions but the chancellor has chosen not to intervene at this stage.”

Aboody also welcomed the positive Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast for inflation, noting that the Budget should be a ‘welcome boost for confidence’.

Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, adds: “The Budget has certainly provided more of a boost for the UK housing market than the mini-Budget did. The absence of a recession will lift sentiment as buyers and sellers adapt to the new reality of higher mortgage rates. However, we expect house prices to fall by 5% this year as buyers recalculate their budgets and more supply comes onto the market.”

In another mention for stamp duty, Coventry Building Society head of intermediary relationships Jonathan Stinton says: “This has turned out to be the Budget where homebuyers were forgot. The chancellor’s had a lot of pressure to help those struggling with the cost of living, while avoiding a repeat of the events in September, but that doesn’t mean support for homebuyers should be ignored.

“Even something as small as making the new stamp duty thresholds permanent would have been a bonus, but to see nothing is incredibly disappointing.”

LMS chief executive Nick Chadbourne was also concerned by the lack of measures.

“The lack of any tangible announcements in today’s Budget to help stimulate the housing market, both residential and buy to let, is a concern. Brokers are doing their best to ensure they provide the best possible support and outcomes to their clients, but, following the turmoil of last year, we need to see the market addressed on a broader level.

“That necessitates helping people get onto the property ladder by increasing housing stock – this will ease the pressure on the rental sector while also improving the affordability across the board, especially for first-time buyers. It’s not necessarily an easy task, but we can start by loosening planning restrictions, and changing the punitive measures on landlords that are driving them out of the market altogether.”

For property services provider Jackson-Stops, the Budget was a missed opportunity to tackle the ‘climate conundrum’.

Jackson-Stops chairman Nick Leeming says: “Homeowners want to play their part and make their homes more energy efficient but the cost of doing so and lack of clarity on what needs to be done is holding them back. Funding and support to help homeowners retrofit and install low carbon heating currently does not go far enough, feeling convoluted and vastly inaccessible for many.

Leeming also calls for measures to make the existing housing market ‘more liquid’.

“Measures such as offering a tax break incentive for downsizers – or indeed right-sizers – to find a home that suits their changing lifestyle, would free up much needed housing stock at the middle and upper end of the market, and one that could be well received amongst older homeowners who are suffering most with high energy costs,” he added.

While praising the government’s ambition to ‘transform the UK into a tech superpower’, Search Acumen director Andy Sommerville says: “For the property sector, it’s a Budget that gives with one hand and takes with the other. Investment Zones provide the potential for deregulation and simplification of the planning system, which will be attractive to developers and a potential stimulus for local economies, while tax incentives will support the occupier market in these locations.

“However, increasing corporation tax for large businesses, along with the possibility that many occupiers will see big rises in their business rates bills from April, will have a negative impact, particularly on sub-sectors of the property sector and geographical regions most impacted.”