BUDGET 2026
Budget 2026: what it means for property finance
There was a great deal in the Budget on 28 October, and most of it matters to property more than the headlines suggested. Rather than compress it into a single piece, we have taken the measures that affect specialist property finance one at a time. This page collects them.
REGULATIONProperty income tax is going to 49%. That is four points, not two.The Budget added a further two percentage points to property income tax from April 2027. Measured from where a landlord sits today, it is a four point rise in a single step.
MARKET NEWSStamp duty did not change. The deals you parked can move.No change to stamp duty rates or thresholds. The speculation that stalled transactions through the autumn is over, and the thing people were waiting for was never coming.
REGULATIONBusiness Asset Disposal Relief just halved. The clock is 6 April 2027.The lifetime limit drops from £1m to £500,000. If a disposal was already somewhere on your horizon, the date just became the most important number in the plan.
MARKET NEWSThree members voted to raise. The market now expects 4.75%.Inflation is forecast above 4%, most economists expect a rise on 5 November, and markets are pricing Bank Rate at 4.75% by mid-2027. On a bridging or development file that is an exit problem before it is a pricing problem.
REGULATIONSmall brownfield sites just got cheaper to build. Your appraisal is out of date.The Budget exempts smaller brownfield developments from Biodiversity Net Gain. A site that did not stack up in the spring might stack up now, and that is a reappraisal job rather than a headline.
GUIDESIncorporation got more attractive on income and less attractive on exit.Two measures in the same Budget pull in opposite directions. Which one dominates depends on something most coverage will not mention: how long you intend to hold.STAY IN THE LOOPThe market read, once a month.What moved, what it means for funding, and the deals we placed. No filler, one email.