While summer may be in full swing, attention is already shifting towards the Autumn Budget, which we now know will take place on Wednesday 28 October.
With a new Prime Minister, Chancellor and Housing Secretary, stakeholders from across the property sector – including brokers, investors and lenders – will be eagerly awaiting this key event, wondering what reforms, policies and spending commitments will be prioritised. So far, the new-look Government has recommitted to housebuilding targets, including the expansion of council and social housebuilding, while ruling out stamp duty reform and rent controls.
So, with 11 weeks to go until the Budget, we’ve taken a look at the topics likely to dominate discussions in the build-up and what potential plans could mean in practice for the property sector.
Housebuilding targets
On coming into power in 2024, the Labour government pledged to build 1.5 million homes over the course of this Parliament. So far, it is falling behind.
In recent weeks, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner recommitted to the 1.5 million figure, but candidly referred to it as a “stretch target”, stating that it will be a challenging one to meet. She highlighted changes to the National Planning Policy Framework, investment in planning officers, reforms to Rent to Buy receipts and rent conversions, and £39 billion secured from the Treasury for affordable housing, as key changes that are all geared towards removing red tape and helping more houses to be built.
Rayner has, however, also acknowledged the rising costs of housebuilding, due in part to the economic consequences of the conflict in the Middle East. Rising interest rates, and therefore mortgage rates, has an inevitable impact on house buying trends. There’s also concern that building material costs are set to rise in 2027, due to rising energy costs and supply chain disruption.
Council and social housing commitments
Before taking office, one of the Andy Burnham’s key commitments was to introduce the “biggest council house building programme since the post-war period”. Many in the construction industry welcomed the announcement, given the long-term investment and therefore certainty that such a programme would provide.
As for what this means for the property market, demand for private rentals could ease, with a similar easing of pressure on private rent inflation.
Property taxation
As ever, speculation about property taxation will be rife in the lead up to the budget, with various different taxes likely to go under the microscope.
Stamp duty
Since becoming Prime Minister, Burnham has ruled out replacing council tax and stamp duty with a single annual property tax, having previously supported such proposals. An annual property tax would mean that homeowners would pay more tax the more their property is worth. Landlords would have paid the tax, but it is likely that this would have been charged back to renters indirectly through higher rents. It may have also made the housing market more dynamic, as stamp duty can put people off buying and selling property.
Mansion tax
At the last Autumn Budget, the previous Chancellor Rachel Reeves introduced the High Value Council Tax Surcharge – more commonly known as the mansion tax – which will apply to properties worth over £2 million from April 2028. The Government is progressing these plans, with rumours that Prime Minister may lower the threshold at which homeowners start paying the tax to £1.5 million.
Council tax
In an interview with Laura Kuenssberg during his first week in the role, potential council tax reform was discussed, with Burnham highlighting that the current banding system is based on property values from 1991 and the regional inequalities created by the current system.
The Prime Minister has been treading carefully: while emphasising the unfairness of the current council tax system, he has also maintained that he has to consider the Labour Manifesto on which the party was elected.
If changes to the council tax system are announced in the Autumn Budget, this will impact affordability for homeowners and renters in areas where property values have seen strong growth since 1991, again affecting those in London and the South East the most. Conversely, properties in areas with lower price growth could expect see their council tax lowering or staying the same.
Rent controls
Angela Rayner has ruled out introducing rent controls, instead referring to the Renters’ Rights Act which came into effect in May this year to give more stability and security to renters.
This legislation has banned fixed-term tenancies, rental bidding and no-fault evictions, and means that rents can only be increased once a year in line with the market rate.
The consequences of these new rules are clear to see. According to Goodlord’s Rental Index, annual rent inflation sat at 1.7% in April and May of this year, jumping to 6.5% in June.
Around one in ten (11%) of landlords have purportedly sold one or more of their properties due to the Renters’ Rights Act, according to Savills landlord survey June 2026. This figure represents a considerable shrinkage of the rental market, and is a contributing factor to rising rental prices.
The bottom line
While housebuilding and taxation policies in the Autumn Budget will undoubtedly have an effect on homeowners and landlords, borrowers will still feel the impact of interest rates far more sharply and directly.
For now, any major overhaul around property taxation appears to have been ruled out, which ought to alleviate the sort of heightened uncertainty that defined the build-up to 2025 Autumn Budget, when rumours of radical reforms surfaced in the weeks prior to the announcement.
At RAW Capital Partners, we will help brokers and property investors remain abreast of any changes that are introduced. Moreover, we will continue to prioritise pragmatism; while changes in government can prove de-stabilising, it is also important to note that the UK property market continues to demonstrate great resilience, and there remains notable demand from buyers – both domestic and overseas.
We will support investors and their brokers with fast decision-making, coupled with a recently-revamped range of products, including our new bridging loan proposition. The Budget is certain to dominate industry discussions over the coming three months, but we will ensure speculation does not obstruct those keen to move ahead with their investment plans.