Chancellor Phillip Hammond today abolished stamp duty on homes priced up to £300,000 in a bid to tackle the UK's housing crisis.

The ambitious move also means first time buyers purchasing homes priced up to £500,000 will not pay the duty on the first £300,000.

It means meaning 95 per cent of first-time buyers will see at least a cut in the amount of stamp duty, with 80 per cent paying none at all.

The cut will come into force immediately.

The chancellor also set out plans to build 300,000 extra new homes a year by the mid 2020s.

As part of that pledge, Mr Hammond also announced he will scrap a cap on local authority borrowing, meaning councils in high demand areas of the country will be able to borrow cash to build homes.

He told the House: "This is our plan to deliver on the pledge we have made to the next generation that the dream of home ownership will become a reality in this country once again."

Over the next five years Mr Hammond pledged a total of at least £44 billion of capital funding, loans and guarantees to support the housing market.

In his Budget - the first to take place in the spring under new rules - the Chancellor also pledged billions of pounds to the NHS in a bid to make it "fit the future".

The pledge begins with £350 million being made available to trusts immediately, to tackle the winter hospital crisis.