Martin Lewis reveals four things 'no one spotted' in Labour's Budget

by · Mail Online

Martin Lewis's money-saving gurus have highlighted four things that slipped through the net in Labour's Budget bombshell which could hit countless Brits.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered a fiscal hammer blow during her £40billion tax raid on hard-up Brits yesterday, which saw her putting an eye-watering stamp on the nation's strained finances. 

Among the headlines included shock changes to capital gains tax, hikes in national insurance payments by employers, and alterations to the inheritance tax which have left farmers in uproar. 

And while Ms Reeves covered many of the big-hitters, like funding for the NHS, armed forces and public services - there were several key topics which were seemingly were overlooked, according to Money Saving Expert. 

Top of the list according to Mr Lewis's team included a critical change to the Lifetime ISA (LISA) scheme for first-time buyers. 

Martin Lewis (pictured) and his money-saving gurus have highlighted four things that slipped through the net in Labour's Budget bombshell which could hit countless Brits

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Mr Lewis had urged the government to scrap 'unjust' withdrawal penalties for those on the scheme, which is intended to help struggling young Brits aged 18 to 39 to save for their first home. 

Under the scheme, people can save up to £4,000 a year towards their first home, with the government topping up by 25 per cent. 

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However, those who purchase properties above the £450,000 maximum covered by the programme, or who pull the cash out for anything other than a home, retirement, or to cover a terminal illness, will face a 25 per cent penalty. 

In a plea ahead of the Budget, money-saving expert Mr Lewis called on the government to reduce the cancellation penalty from 25 to 20 per cent - but the plea has seemingly fallen on deaf ears. 

Speaking on his podcast before Wednesday's announcement, Mr Lewis said: 'Many people, especially in London and the southeast, and other urban metropolitan areas, have been priced out by house prices going up.

'So they saved – as the Government told them to – for their first-time property, but their property is now above £450,000. To take the money out, even to buy a first-time property, which is what this product is for, they are facing a penalty, a substantial penalty.

'There is a justice issue here. Many of our young people who've done what the state asked them to by saving for a first-time property in a Lifetime ISA are being fined by the state for accessing the money to do what the state wanted them to do. That seems to me to be unjust.'

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her maiden Budget in Parliament on Wednesday 
Mr Lewis's team claimed a plea to change the withdrawal penalties from the Lifetime ISA scheme for first-time buyers was not included in the budget (file picture of first-time buyer)

An estimated £1.8 million in fines for taking money out of their LISAs were paid in the 2023/24 tax year, Money Saving Expert said.

Martin Lewis's team of financial experts also claimed their appeal to make the the widely-slammed new Winter Fuel payment criteria 'less restrictive' was also snubbed.

Labour sparked outrage after axing the winter support for some 10million pensioners, following changes in who was eligible to claim for the aid. 

Previously, everyone over 65 was able to receive up to £300 of support. But under the new rules, those only eligible over 65 and receiving benefits and pension credit. 

But Mr Lewis hit back and has urged the Government to expand the group of people who can claim the winter energy support, claiming the current cohort was 'too narrow'.

'The targeting of Winter Fuel Payments is too narrow with the winter we have coming. Pensioners were already due to get less as this will be the first time since winter 2022 they haven’t got the up to £300 extra winter fuel cost of living top-up,' he wrote on Money Saving Expert.

Martin Lewis's team of financial experts also claimed their plea to make the the widely-slammed new Winter Fuel payment criteria 'less restrictive' were also snubbed (file picture)

Mr Lewis had also urged the Chancellor to address the hardship faced by so-called 'mortgage prisoners' - a plea which money-saving gurus from his firm claimed was overlooked in the Budget. 

Mortgage prisoners are those who took out loans before the 2008 financial crash, when lending rules weren't as tight. 

However, after several lenders collapsed, these mortgage deals were sold off to firms that were not lenders and could not offer them cheaper products. 

It has led to some borrowers have been trapped in crippling, uncompetitive rates ever since, with some people paying eye-watering interests rates as high as 10 per cent. 

Up to 200,000 Brits could be mortgage prisoners, Money Saving Expert estimates. 

Finally, the last thing Mr Lewis's team claim was missed out in the Budget was their plea to rename the government's 'tax-free childcare' scheme.

The savings scheme offers households up to £2,000 per child per year - or £4,000 if your child is disabled - to be used towards childcare costs.

But Money Saving Expert said that although more than 1.3million families were eligible for the aid, up to 800,000 weren't currently claiming because the scheme's name was too 'confusing'.