A £3bn plan to boost green construction jobs and a stamp duty holiday for house purchases under half a million pounds are expected to feature heavily in an economic statement by the chancellor later today.

Rishi Sunak’s statement at lunchtime today is expected to amount to a mini-budget designed to stimulate the economy in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown.

The Treasury yesterday confirmed the chancellor will announce a £3bn green jobs fund, to include £2bn of grants for homeowners to carry out energy efficiency retrofits on their homes and a £1bn public buildings retrofit programme to include £50m specifically for innovative social housing projects.

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