Pension reform and savings rates are set to be in the spotlight in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement, making it an important event for anyone whose plans to retire abroad depend heavily on their UK pension and savings.
âFollowing on from the huge changes to pensions announced at the Budget earlier this year, Chancellor Osborne is not expected to reveal anything too radical but could tweak some of the finer details of his pension reform plan,â Angelos Koutsoudes, Head of OverseasGuidesCompany.com, predicts.
âThe changes come into force in April next year and will enable those who have retired or are about to retire to take their pension in lumps of cash to spend however they wish, rather than being obliged to buy an annuity. It’s likely some future retirees, including many of our readers, will choose to use their pension pot – or some of it – to invest in a new home abroad, or even a buy-to-let investment in the UK, so it’s worth keeping up to speed with the reforms. There could also be changes to pension tax relief â there are suspicions that relief for the higher rate of pension contributions could go.”
Other property experts have published their predictions for the Autumn Statement too, with a focus expected to be placed on the devolution of economic powers to Scotland – and, as a result, to regions of the UK.
Miles Gibson, Head of UK Research, CBRE, comments: “In the wake of the Scottish devolution package, we expect to hear plans for increased opportunities for cities across England as George Osborne seeks to drive stronger economic growth in the regions through greater decentralisation of housing, transport and economic development budgets. With the general election less than six months away, recovering regional property markets look likely to take centre stage in the debate on the future shape of the UK economy. That said, we think that talk of significant tax devolution to English cities is premature.”
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