The Chancellor's weightiest Budget measure for homeowners was a 94-page document that returned - for the umpteenth time - to the issue of how to make long-term fixed-rate mortgages the loan we love the most.

This Housing Finance Review advances a new reason why we should all prefer a 25-year fixed-rate deal: in the US, the repossession rate is highest among sub-prime borrowers with variable rate mortgages. But, as these were sold to the poorest would-be owner-occupiers, those most likely to default, the case is not very convincing.

Meanwhile aspiring owner-occupiers in the UK will wonder why Alistair Darling did so little for them. The stamp duty change applies mainly to those key workers, such as teachers, who qualify for shared equity schemes. As we told you last week, there is unrest among private sector workers with modest earnings who envy key workers not only their pensions, but also their housing and loan perks, including mortgages with starter rates of as low as 1.75 per cent.

Only 16 per cent of properties are below the £125,000 starting threshold for stamp duty. An increase to, say, £130,000 and the promise of more concessions to come in future Budgets would have given the market a useful springtime boost. But perhaps Mr Darling decided that a tax break would be wasted on first-time buyers, who currently find it difficult to get a mortgage unless they are in possession of a substantial deposit.

BACKGROUND

• Opening bids - Is it Christmas already? Tell Santa to break out a rate cut without further delay?

• Which economists will win the contest to be the gloomiest over the future for prices?

• Which camp are you in - storm clouds or showers? Even the experts are split

• Opening bids - a year in property

BACKGROUND

• Opening bids: Why the Government must do something about Britain’s empty properties

• Will there be a rate cut before Christmas? Kate Barker knows - but she’s not telling

• Downturn and downtown in 2008: how investors in UK city-centre flats may feel the chill first

• Opening bids

Sub-prime slime is oozing out everywhere from the US -where will it spread next?

BACKGROUND

• Comment: The housing shortage

• Ripple effect from Belgravia to the suburbs

• Comment: the property market slowdown

• Tax perks for a few are adding to the property have-nots’ sense of injustice, but don’t expect reform any time soon

• This was not a timely retreat. What does the government now mean to do to save the planet?

The silencing of our Mr Spocks

Our public administration has specialised in low-level, chronic inefficiency with a counterpoint of big talk

BACKGROUND

• Average prices in the South are 1.59 times higher than the North

• The City’s ardour for status homes remains unabated

• The dawn of a more eco-conscious Britain may be delayed

• It's bonus time, let the stampede begin

• Prices and politics either side of the border

Hips will make us greener, or so the Government says

• Hips have already won hearts and minds and will make us all greener, or so the Government says

BACKGROUND

• Mortgage competition makes millions immune to base-rate moves

• Hidden costs of a place in the sun

• Primark Principle revises gloomy views

• Going green is not cheap

His harsh treatment of first-time buyers was in marked contrast to his generosity to buy-to-let investors. Despite rumours that he would have a change of heart, the capital gains tax (CGT) on the sale of a rental flat or a second home will be 18 per cent from April. The temptation to take advantage of this tax cut will be lessened by the availability of tenants - those frustrated first-time buyers must live somewhere.

Wherever you lay your head, Mr Darling would like it to be a environmentally-aware space. To this cause, he pledged £26 million for the Green Homes Service, which provides eco-audits. This sum may not stretch to an audit for every home, but it's the thought that counts.

As we explain in our Budget Special, if you pay for a home energy assessment yourself, the carbon emissions from your property will be lower - and your fuel bills, too. But you will still be left wondering why the Government is wasting so much energy on trying to find ways to make us want 25-year fixed-rate loans.

THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT

There is a common belief that estate agents have an infinite propensity for optimism and it is true that those who do well in this line of work are glass-half-full people. Yet just when we need estate agents to be more than usually upbeat, some are turning morose.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' monthly account of its members' experiences reveals that many hold the press responsible for the housing downturn, preferring to overlook such factors as global financial market chaos. This inclination to blame the messenger, first noted in January by this column, suggests some firms are well-equipped for tough times.

But not everyone in estate agency is acting out of character. Those with charm enough to persuade their clients to be realistic about prices are reporting some success. McKillop and Gregor, a Salisbury outfit, says that last month it took “a strong line on bringing prices down by up to 10 per cent”: viewings, offers and sales rose. As our report on page 13 suggests, cutting the asking price of a property can stimulate the competitive instincts of purchasers.

Feel pity if you can, however, for the unfortunate estate agent trying to outline such a strategy to a client who has a set-in-concrete view of the price of his home. Bricks and Mortar has heard from readers who are upset that their properties are failing to find buyers; they remain convinced that such is the quality of their piece of real estate that its value cannot have diminished.

Meanwhile, we have also been contacted by individuals keen to buy. Every day they check whether sellers have lowered their expectations, and every day are disappointed. It needs somebody to bring the two sides together in this stand-off and that person is an estate agent who knows his job is all about that certain smile.

WHICH TYPE OF HOARDER ARE YOU?

The first sign of spring in a property section is the appearance of books about seasonal domestic makeovers. The Clutter Clinic, by Romaine Lowery (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, price £16.99) arrived this week. This explains how to get rid of your junk, but before you become the “closet queen” in your ordered home you must discover what type of hoarder you are: the Squirrel, the Kitten, the Magpie and so forth. This process can, however, be just another way of postponing the actual job of clearing up.

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