CHANCELLOR Alistair Darling squeezed the rich in his final Budget before polling, announcing help for first-time home buyers and young jobless, plus measures aimed at wealthier people.

David Jackson, of property consultants Savills, welcomed the doubling of the threshold for stamp duty on house buying from £125,000 to £250,000 for first-time buyers.

However, he said: “The key thing is access to mortgage finance and that will be a limiting factor in boosting the housing market. Transaction levels are about half what they typically are.”

Mr Jackson was less happy about the move being funded through an increase in stamp duty for homes costing over £1m from April next year, and he speculated that this could be reversed if the Conservatives won the election.

Chris Jardine, an Oxford University green energy researcher who also helps to run a solar power company, welcomed the announcement of a £2bn green investment bank to boost investment in alternative energy such as wind power.

He said: “Getting finance from banks to take green initiatives forward is difficult, so this seems a sensible idea.

Mr Jardine, whose company Joju installed solar panels for Wolvercote Village Hall, said: “It’s not clear whether there will be funding for smaller-scale initiatives, which would be good for local groups we work with, like Low Carbon West Oxford.”

Small businessman Darren Hazell who runs The Lettings Centre in Headington, was concerned about rising fuel prices. He said: “I use my vehicle a lot and have done 8,000 miles in the last six months mainly over short distances, so any rises will be significant.”

But he welcomed the Chancellor’s exemption on business rates for rateable values of up to £6,000 and tax relief on investment in equipment.

Will Laithwaite, who runs niche brewery Loose Cannon, in Abingdon, said: “I’m just starting up and I am already being hit with this two per cent rise in beer duty. But to be honest, I factored in that there would be regular increases of about this size.”

He was pleased at the increased duty on cider, which he said brought its price more into line with beer.

Spencer Hickson, of Findlay Chauffeur Services of Oxford, which runs eight large cars, said the delay in introducing the fuel tax rise was an attempt to fend off a backlash.

He said motorists were being hit yet again. “Petrol is going up fast in Oxfordshire, where the price is already above the 117.3p UK average and is approaching the 120p mark.

Chris Mundy, tax partner at Botley-based accountancy firm Grant Thornton, said if the very rich left the country, it could lead to a brain drain.

He said: “Some of these people are successful business owners who run companies that are important to Oxfordshire.”