Budget leaves households split: from first-time buyers to single parents, readers weigh the gains and the gaps

Readers from a range of backgrounds have described how this week's budget measures meet the realities of their household finances, with several saying the announcements help in places but leave larger pressures untouched.

Louie, 24, a chef in London, is hopeful about the new Your First Home scheme, which lets people buy a new-build property with a deposit of just 2.5%, backed by an interest-free equity loan. He says it should encourage younger people to buy earlier, but a smaller deposit alone will not be enough for him. He finds hospitality wages too volatile to save from, so he is studying an access course ahead of a physiotherapy degree next year. He earns between £37,000 and £40,000 and shares a rented three-bedroom home with two friends. Rent and bills now take roughly half his income, and his landlord is raising the rent by £200 a month in November.

Graham Robinson, a 45-year-old business owner from Timperley, Greater Manchester, earned £126,000 last year but says he has almost nothing left each month. He had hoped for help with employment costs, but the employment allowance stays at £10,500. He welcomes the minimum wage rise for workers but says businesses carry the bill. His mortgage payments have climbed from about £900 to £1,300 a month, and he is frustrated by the effective 60% tax rate caused by the withdrawal of the personal allowance on income over £100,000. By his calculation, adding £1,000 a month to his take-home pay would require a salary rise from £100,000 to £129,757.

Helen, 40, from south-west London, says her family's mortgage has risen by more than £600 a month, though it is now fixed until 2028. She lives in council tax band D and will receive a £100 energy payment this winter, which she welcomed while finding it odd that it is allocated by band rather than need. Frozen income tax thresholds are among her main worries, along with economic growth and the strain on small businesses. Her husband's architectural practice, less than four years old, has struggled with building costs and a construction slowdown.

Peter Pillinger, 72, a retired Methodist minister and local councillor from South Ribble in Lancashire, praised the scrapping of standing charges on gas bills. He called such charges regressive and said moving costs into the unit price would encourage insulation and lower usage. He questioned why the change will not arrive until at least next spring, and asked what will be done for people who need more gas for medical reasons. He backs the changes to the state pension triple lock and thinks pensioners who can afford tax should pay it, but worries about those living on the state pension alone.

Danielle Walker, 37, a self-employed florist in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, welcomed the cancelled fuel duty rise but said it does not reverse earlier increases. Rising fuel prices raise both her delivery costs and the price of her stock. The higher mileage rate rising from 25p to 35p a mile will not help her, nor will the business rate threshold moving from £12,000 to £18,000, because she works from a studio. She says she is increasingly absorbing costs, since customers may cut back on flowers, which she calls a luxury item.

Jonny Roberts, 39, a single father of two from Newbury, Berkshire, works part-time at McDonald's and as a tutor while studying for a master's degree. He is grateful for the extra £100 towards energy bills but was disappointed that there was no word on whether local housing allowance will be uprated. He receives £1,200 a month towards rent at the three-bedroom rate but pays £1,300 for a two-bedroom flat. For every extra pound he earns above his work allowance, his universal credit falls by 55p, which, with tax, national insurance and student loan repayments, leaves little from extra shifts. He welcomed faster expansion of free breakfast clubs to an extra 2,000 schools, but said that remains slow given there are 17,000 primaries.

Jonny takes part in Changing Realities, a project involving more than 200 parents and carers on low incomes, researchers at the University of Glasgow and Child Poverty Action Group.