Grants increase for ‘green’ households

Homeowners who want to follow David Cameron’s lead and install a power-generating windmill will find it easier to get a government grant to cover the cost (David Robertson writes). The Budget included provisions to increase the Low Carbon Buildings Programme by 50 per cent this year. The Department of Trade and Industry receives about 450 applications a month for grants, about 200 of which are successful. The DTI says it may not be able to issue any grants next month.

Environmentalists welcomed the increase but pointed out that the sums involved were small. The rise amounts to £6 million in addition to the £12 million committed so far. The Government also said that it would ask Ofgem, the electricity regulator, to ensure that households generating renewable energy could sell it back to suppliers.

Disappointment for investors in Isas

Savers were disappointed by the first increase for eight years in the limit on tax-free investing in stocks and shares. The cap was raised by the Chancellor from £7,000 to just £7,200 (Christine Seib writes).

The amount that can be invested in a cash individual savings account (Isa) will increase 20 per cent, from £3,000 to £3,600, but the Isa limit including stocks and shares, will rise by only 2.8 per cent.

Daniel Godfrey, director- general of The Association of Investment Companies, said that it was disappointed with the size of the stocks and shares increase: “It won’t do much to encourage the higher levels of saving that the Government wants.”

Tomàs Carruthers, chief executive of the financial website Interactive Investor said that if people use the new limits to mix cash and shares, by using the higher cash limit the amount they can save in equities will actually decrease.

Investment curbs

Small companies trying to raise money could shun London’s stock markets and seek out money from private equity investors because of new restrictions (Joe Bolger writes). Family companies looking to bring in outside investors could be most vulnerable to the change, which will place restrictions on investments through Enterprise Investment Schemes, Corporate Venture Schemes and Venture Capital Trusts. Under the new rules, investors will be limited to companies with fewer than 50 full-time employees.

CGT disappoints

There was little joy for investors as the annual exempt amount for Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rose from £8,800 to £9,200 next year, which merely keeps pace with inflation (Mark Atherton writes). Chas Roy-Chowdhury, of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, said: “If the Chancellor had really wanted to encourage people to invest for the long term, he could have raised the exempt amount to well over £10,000. The one positive thing is that he didn’t attack a number of schemes which seek to mitigate the impact of CGT.”

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