First-time house buyers will not have to pay stamp duty for properties up to £300,000 in a surprise budget announcement by Chancellor Philip Hammond.

As expected, measures to help increase the number of houses being built dominated the budget with a heavily trailed pledge to build 300,000 a year to help those currently priced out of the market.

The measure was welcomed by several of the county’s MPs who said it would make it easier for those desperate to get on the housing ladder.

Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins tweeted that it was “excellent news for everyone trying to get on the housing ladder.”

Maidstone and Weald MP Helen Grant echoed: “This will help more young people get onto the ladder in areas like ours, where house prices are higher than the national average.”

Mr Hammond said solving the housing crisis was a“complex problem with no single magic bullet” but added: “Successive governments over decades have failed to build enough homes.”

Average house prices for first time buyers in the UK have risen to £207,693 according to a survey by the Halifax estate agency earlier this year.

There was a more cautious response elsewhere by financial analysts. Maike Currie, investment director for Personal Investing at Kent-based Fidelity International said:

“The stamp duty cut could perversely inflate property prices and does not address the problem of saving for a deposit. As the Chancellor acknowledged in his speech it takes too long to save for a deposit while house prices remain are out of the reach of many.”

At the same time, the government was warned by Medway MP Kelly Tolhurst that if the government pushed ahead with higher house-building targets, it needed to ensure enough money for roads, schools and other infrastructure was available.

She told the Prime Minister the revised targets amounted to the equivalent of a new town in Medway that would swallow up remaining green belt land.

There was less good news for the economy in forecasts for growth. The Office for Budget Responsibility has downgraded the growth rates it expects to see.

This year it is set to fall to 1.5% from 2% and in 2018 it will drop to 1.4% from the predicted 1.6%. By 2019, it will drop to 1.3% from the 1.7% expected.

In another announcement affecting Kent, there was news of a £3bn Brexit preparation fund - following on from £700,000 already spent on planning for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

Mr Hammond said he was prepared to spend more if required ahead of 2019 and that “no-one should doubt our resolve” to leave.

Dover MP Charlie Elphicke welcomed the news, saying: “It’s vital we are ready on day one for every eventuality of leaving the European Union, deal or no deal. Being prepared strengthens our hand in the negotiations with the EU. And our borders systems need upgrading anyway.”

Meanwhile, motoring groups welcomed a freeze on fuel duty.

Quentin Willson and Howard Cox of Kent-based FairFuelUK in Cranbrook said: “Pleased that the Chancellor has understood the debilitating effect of raising fuel duty on consumers, households, businesses and the broad economy.”

In other key announcements, there was a commitment to implement any pay increase for nurses if a rise was recommended by the pay review reward.

And the NHS is in line for a £10bn capital investment in frontline services alongside £2.8bn of extra funding for England.

There was little to cheer for councils in Kent, with the Chancellor announcing devolution deals with authorities in the north.