Mark Clare, chief executive of Barratt

"87% of our customers pay £250,000 or less for their homes. We are pleased that many of them will now have the opportunity to save thousands of pounds thanks to this measure which will help strengthen the housing market."

Ian Fletcher, director of policy, BPF

"Greater relief from stamp duty will be a confidence boost to the housing market, helping to ensure the housing recovery does not stall."

Brian Berry, director of external affairs at the Federation of Master Builders

"The big thing was the stamp duty for the first time buyers, although the budget failed to address the key point of mortgage liquidity."

James Thomas, head of residential investment and development at Jones Lang LaSalle

"The extension to the stamp duty threshold is positive news for the UK housing market. This incentive will provide a much needed stimulus to the market at a time when first time buyers are struggling to raise deposit monies."

Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of NHBC

"... nobody should underestimate the challenge in providing the UK with the number of new homes it requires.... the budget measures announced on stamp duty and local authority planning are welcome boosts to house building in the UK."

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist, RICS

"Measures to help boost the housing market are welcome and will benefit a significant number of buyers, removing 50% of transactions from the stamp duty system... RICS believes that greater reform of stamp duty is still needed."

Duncan McClure Fisher of the campaign group potholes.co.uk

"This winter was arguably the hardest ever on our roads, which is a by-product of a lack of investment for decades in our roads… Whilst it's nowhere near the estimate £10bn needed to repair the network properly, it should help fill over a million potholes..."

Brian Berry, director of external affairs at the Federation of Master Builders

"The £2.5bn SME growth package for skills and innovation was... a big boost, and will help stimulate the beleaguered SME sector.

The talk of 15% worth of government contracts going to the SME sector is a great headline grabbing figure. The principle should be lauded, but its success will be seen in how the SMEs are able to tap into that market.

At the moment, many building firms are finding it difficult to get involved at the moment because of the procurement regime. This needs to be simplified first. Many SMEs are currently excluded because of the many frameworks in place that they weren’t able to bid for because of their size."

Richard Diment, director general of the Federation of Master Builders

"The Chancellor paid a lot of attention to the needs of small businesses which is encouraging as they have been badly hit by the recession. The cut in business rates from October will be a help, as will the delayed introduction of the fuel duty increases."

Ruth Reed, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)

"Architects will be anxious to ensure that the construction sector is thriving, and continued support for small and medium businesses is very welcome. In particular, the pledge to widen access to government contracts for small businesses will be particularly welcomed by smaller practices, which are so often frustrated by the procurement process."

Rosemary Beales, national director of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association

"This has all the outward signs of being a budget for infrastructure... Having fought for so long to see a credible plan for the future of the UK’s transport and utility infrastructure, today’s Budget announcement on the National Infrastructure Framework is something for the whole industry to celebrate."

Paul King, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council

"The green investment bank is sending out the right signals, and could lead to a carbon revolution. But the £2bn is a mere drop in the ocean, and the government needs to start leveraging more from the private sector."

Michael Ankers, chief executive of the Construction Products Association

"Positives are the infrastructure bank which we have been pressing for, a range of measures for small businesses including improvement payment and certain tax benefits, and a recognition of the importance of supporting renewable etc, although the measures are fairly modest and we are disappointed that the government have not decided to extend the boiler scrappage scheme or reduce VAT on energy efficient products."

Tom Foulkes, director general of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)

"A £2bn Green Investment Bank (GIB) is certainly a good start – we have been calling for new thinking on how to unlock the long term sources of funding needed to finance infrastructure for some time. However, as Infrastructure UK has acknowledged, the UK will need to invest £40-50bn per annum in infrastructure, so with a starting fund of only £2bn clearly there is some way to go."