Greeks in the UK woke up on Wednesday to Chancellor John Healey’s first Budget, and most of it is about the money that leaves your account each month. A £100 energy payment, frozen tax thresholds, a higher tax on savings and rent, a break for small cafes, and a longer Graduate visa for students. Greek List read the Treasury’s own summary and the first explainers from LADbible, MoneySavingExpert and ITV so you do not have to.
The big picture: the Office for Budget Responsibility expects growth of 1.2% this year, inflation averaging 3.5% in 2027 and back to 2% in 2028. The Chancellor says 84% of taxpayers see no tax rise, because the increases land on savings and rent rather than wages. For Greeks in the UK that splits us in two: salary and a rented flat, little changes beyond the energy help; savings, a flat you let or a shop on a high street, read on.
The headline for most households is the £100 Household Energy Payment: up to 20 million homes in council tax bands A to D in England get £100 paid into their bank account this winter, with January 2027 the date most explainers quote. It is not means tested. Pay council tax by Direct Debit and it should arrive automatically; otherwise your council will ask for your bank details. Many Greek families in Haringey, Enfield, Croydon or Barnet sit in bands A to D, so check your band on GOV.UK.
Also on bills: the VAT cut on domestic electricity runs until 1 July 2027, worth around £50 off the April price cap, and Ofgem has been asked to scrap gas standing charges. None of this cancels the January price cap rise, so it is a cushion, not a cure.
When: payment this winter, January 2027 expected. Check your band at gov.uk/council-tax-bands.
No change to income tax rates on wages, none to National Insurance, and the personal allowance stays at £12,570, frozen until at least April 2031, so every pay rise pulls a little more of your salary into tax. For Greeks in the UK on the National Living Wage there is real news: it rises 3.9% to £13.21 an hour from 1 April 2027, about £910 a year for a full time worker. Pensioners get a new allowance from April 2027: anyone over State Pension age with income no higher than the new State Pension (£250.70 a week) pays no income tax, good news for the parents who moved over to be near the grandchildren.
When: National Living Wage from 1 April 2027. Pensioner allowance from April 2027.
Good news first: the cash ISA limit stays at £20,000, the planned cut to £12,000 for under 65s is scrapped, and the Lifetime ISA withdrawal charge drops from 25% to 20% this week. The bad news is for interest and rent. From April 2027 tax on savings income and property income rises 2 points across the board: 24% basic, 44% higher, 49% additional. This touches Greeks in the UK more than most: plenty of us let a flat in Athens or Limassol, or a London flat while working elsewhere. If you are UK resident and declare that rent on self assessment, the new rates are your problem too, so talk to an accountant before January.
Greek stop nearby: NP&US Accountants on Lytton Road, New Barnet, a Greek speaking practice for self assessment, VAT, payroll and income from two countries.
Still saving for a first home? The new Your First Home scheme aims to help 70,000 buyers with £4.7 billion of government backed lending. MoneySavingExpert reports applications from February 2027, England only, new build homes, an equity loan of up to 20% and a deposit of at least 2.5%. Stamp duty and renters were left alone.
When: savings and property rates from 6 April 2027. Your First Home applications from February 2027.
If you run a shop, cafe or restaurant, this is your Budget. The Small Business Rates Relief threshold for retail, hospitality and leisure rises from £12,000 to £18,000 rateable value, taking around 70,000 more businesses out of rates completely, and every retail, hospitality and leisure property gets a two year real terms freeze on its bill.
For the side hustle, the trading allowance jumps from £1,000 to £3,000 from April 2027, so a few hundred pounds from koulouria at a fair no longer forces a tax return. Employer National Insurance is untouched, though the higher minimum wage lands on payroll in April. Greeks in the UK run exactly the kind of family businesses this relief is written for, like the two below.
Greek stop nearby: Kamari on Westow Street, Crystal Palace, a family run Greek cafe, bakery and deli that opens at 6:30 every morning.
Greek stop nearby: Grand Cafe 241 on Selhurst Road, South Norwood, a family run Greek coffee shop, bakery and bar with fresh pastries every day.
When: business rates changes from April 2027. Trading allowance from 6 April 2027.
The 5p fuel duty cut is extended to July 2027, with the inflation uplift pushed back to the same date, so duty stays at 52.95p a litre. For the Greek plumbers, caterers and minicab drivers who live in their vans, the 55p approved mileage rate becomes permanent and the lower rate for high mileage drivers rises from 25p to 35p. Gone electric? Cheaper local public chargers should save around £150 a year.
When: fuel duty cut runs to July 2027. Mileage rates from April 2027.
Tucked into the Budget were two visa changes for Greeks in the UK who arrived as students. Graduates of eligible universities get a two year Graduate visa rather than the shorter period the government had planned, and the High Potential Individual visa now covers graduates of the world’s top 150 institutions. Less cheerful: the Plan 2 student loan threshold stays frozen at £29,385, so repayments start earlier than they used to.
Greek stop nearby: Lemian and T Solicitors on Great Portland Street, Fitzrovia, a Greek speaking law practice for individuals and businesses, including UK immigration.
When: visa changes to be confirmed in Home Office rules. Loan threshold frozen until 2030.
Alcohol duty rises 4.55% from 1 February 2027, so the Assyrtiko gets a little dearer. Tariffs come off more than 100 imported products, chocolate included. Banks pay a 6% surcharge instead of 3% from January 2027. The full Treasury document runs to 166 pages; read it with a freddo in hand.
Budgets pass, but the community keeps dancing. The Greek List events page is the most complete list of Greek events in the UK, from Saturday bouzoukia to Sunday church bazaars, and listing your own event is free. If you are organising something for Greeks in the UK, add it so people can find it.
The businesses in this article are Greek List members. More than 100,000 Greeks and Cypriots in the UK read Greek List every month on the site, in the newsletter and in the Ellines sto Londino Facebook group, and Greek List listings rank first on Google for the searches your customers actually type.
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