What does autumn statement mean for mortgages? How secure is triple lock? Could Tories lose power for long period? | Your questions answered

What does the autumn statement mean for mortgages? How secure is the triple lock? Could the Tories lose power for a long period? These are just some of the questions, submitted by you, that were tackled by our experts.

Thanks to business presenter Ian King, political correspondents Ali Fortescue and Amanda Akass, cost of living reporter Megan Baynes, and personal finance expert Gemma Godfrey for their time.

Gemma Godfrey, personal finance expert:

First of all, you get a £300 payment next year, which is available to pensioners to help with energy costs. We saw that last year, so it's just a repeat.

The second thing is the state pension is set to rise by over 10% - which of course is good news.

But the third thing is that dividends – the personal allowance, the amount of dividends that you could earn before you start to be charged tax – is going to be halved.

The reason that is important for pensioners is some pensioners do earn dividends through their pensions. 

Things like that could really affect the amount of tax they pay. 

Ian King, business presenter:

It could have an impact at the margins if demand for housing is hit by a decline in disposable incomes. 

But most people do not buy or sell homes for that reason – they buy or sell according to the circumstances in which they are living their lives – marriage, children, divorce, bereavement, a new job and so on – although, of course, the price they pay and the size of their home is dictated by their disposable income. 

The factors influencing supply and demand go much further than that. 

If the Bank of England raises the bank rate less dramatically as a result of these measures, or even starts lowering them, you could argue that this will be supportive for house prices. 

But there is a lot more to it than that. So on balance I don't think, of itself, this autumn statement will have much impact on house prices.

Megan Baynes, cost of living reporter:

In September, the then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a stamp duty cut for all home buyers as part of the mini-budget.

The new price thresholds, after which stamp duty must be paid, were:

• After the first £250,000 for people who have purchased property before (it was £125,000)
• After the first £425,000 for first-time buyers (it is currently £300,000)
• For first-time buyers of homes more than £425,000, they will be entitled to 5% relief from that price up to £625,000 (it is currently up to £500,000)

Although the mini-budget was, overall, pretty disastrous and most of the measures promptly reversed, the changes the stamp duty is one of the changes that will stay in place, amid predictions the housing market will slow over the next two years.

The cuts will remain until 31 March 2025. As first-time buyers, you can purchase a property costing up to £425,000 without paying stamp duty. If the home you are buying is more than that, you'll get 5% relief up to £625,000.

So, if you are purchasing a home worth - for example - £600,000, you will now pay £8,750 in stamp duty. Before the cut, you would have paid £17,500.

After March 2025, the chancellor said he will then "sunset the measure".

While this might seem like enough time before the cut ends, it takes a first time buyer an average of five years to save enough for a deposit – according to Rightmove – so we may see more people looking to friends and family to help save up their deposits, so they can purchase before the deadline.

Gemma Godfrey, personal finance expert:

We're now falling into a recession, so what we have heard today is that this has become official. 

What the Bank of England doesn't want to do is, if they keep raising interest rates, then they could stifle growth and they could prolong recession.

Or, the worse thing, we could go into stagflation. 

This just means that you've got high inflation but you've also got high unemployment. So, the Bank of England can't really do much to solve things.

So actually, what we heard today should really put more of a limit on what the Bank of England does.

Ian King, business presenter:

The good news is that it will go some way towards restoring the credibility of the UK government with the bond market. 

But the bad news is that the UK is going to be borrowing at historically high levels for many years to come while the cost of servicing the national debt is set to carry on rising for quite some time too. 

And that means less money for the government to spend on public services or allow taxpayers to keep for themselves.

Ali Fortescue, political correspondent:

There are certainly parallels with the late 90s. 

John Major never quite recovered after Black Wednesday, despite his efforts to restore economic credibility; many will argue the Tory party's reputation with the economy was lost in September 1992 and that haunted the party until their crushing election defeat in 1997. 

A disastrous mini-budget a decade later that saw Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng resign within weeks will be remembered for years to come, but politics is complicated and direct comparisons may be dangerous. 

Keir Starmer isn't Tony Blair, and unlike John Major, a new PM has been quickly installed this time – who has long argued against Liz Truss's bold tax cutting plans. 

Rishi Sunak continues to poll relatively well with the public on the economy, but will a new PM and radically different vision for the economy be enough to stop the public blaming the current administration for Tory mistakes? 

The Conservatives have been in power for 12 years and the economic outlook is grim. If the country went to the polls tomorrow, current polling puts Labour comfortably ahead. 

Gemma Godfrey, personal finance expert:

This is a very key question because it is mortgage rates, but it's also credit cards – the rate that we're paying on our debt - as well.

I think the thing to talk about here is the fact that what's been driving an increase in mortgage rates is the Bank of England raising rates. The reason they've done that recently is because they're trying to fight inflation.

So, there hasn't been anything explicit in the autumn statement that talks about mortgage rates, but it is the reason that they've made the moves that they have.

So first of all, what you've got is the energy price guarantee now being extended past April. This is hopefully going to help inflation for households.

The second thing is that more people are going to be paying more tax. If they're doing that, they're going to be spending less.

These two things are going to hopefully drive down inflation slightly, which means there is less pressure on the Bank of England to raise rates. They also have a bit more credibility now, there's a lot more around making the right moves to plug this funding gap.

It means that in the concerns people have around mortgage rates increasing, hopefully this should come off the table slightly. We could see a couple more raises but not as far as we thought previously. 

Megan Baynes, cost of living reporter:

The chancellor didn't give any detail about how that would be made - this is the kind of information that is likely to come out at a later date.

However, if we look back at previous cost of living payments, these were paid automatically, and the recipients did not need to apply. 

The last two cost of living payments should have been automatically paid to you and if this has not happened, you can report it online.

The full £900 payment will be paid to households on means-tested benefits, and if this is you, it means the government will already have all your information (because that's how they pay your benefits). 

While we wait for more details on the logistics, please be wary of scammers getting in touch and encouraging you to follow a dodgy link to apply. Only trust information coming from a verified news source, or the gov.uk website. Fraudsters are taking advantage of the crisis and the Department for Work and Pensions will never ask for your personal details by text message or email.

Megan Baynes, cost of living reporter:

The chancellor did not explicitly reference a pay rise for NHS and carers – but he did announce an increase in funding for both sectors.

For the social care sector, this will be up to £2.8bn next year and £4.7bn the following year.

Mr Hunt said he will increase the NHS budget by an extra £3.3bn in each of the next two years, adding that "efficiency savings alone will not be enough to deliver the services we all need".

Whether this will materialise into a real terms payrise for NHS staff or carers has yet to be seen - however, in the last few hours, we have heard that nurses have given the government five days to open serious pay negotiations or they will strike in December. 

Last week, members at the majority of NHS employers across the UK voted to take strike action if their pay was not increased.

Data has previously found nurses' salaries have decreased by 20% in real terms over the last decade, meaning they now effectively work one day for free.

The Royal College of Nursing is calling for a payrise of 5% above inflation to combat those pay cuts.