The budget, your salary and how to best position yourself in 2026?
The New UK budget released last week, looks daunting to begin with but only if you don’t understand what is going on.
The new changes hurt casual landlords, but helps professional sourcers and portfolio builders. With a 2% increase on rental properties and also introduction of the Mansion Tax.
2026 = Transition year – Tired landlords looking for a way out / more regulations to adhere to etc. The savvy investor could fill the gap in the market, becoming an re-allocation specialist (New Investor).
Business ethos: To provide/ develop decent homes to the best tenants who want to stay.
The changes in more depth;
Key housing-related changes include:
- “Mansion Tax” (High Value Council Tax Surcharge): A new annual surcharge will be introduced for owners of properties in England valued at over £2 million, based on 2026 prices. This will be collected alongside existing council tax bills from April 2028.
- Properties valued between £2 million and £2.5 million will face an annual charge of £2,500.
- The charge rises to £7,500 for properties valued at £5 million or more.
- Property Income Tax Increase for Landlords: From April 2027, the rates of income tax on property income for landlords (in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) will increase by two percentage points across all bands. The new rates will be 22% (basic rate), 42% (higher rate), and 47% (additional rate).
- Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT): The Chancellor did not announce any new changes to stamp duty. This means the temporary increases to nil-rate thresholds, which ended in April 2025, will not be reversed.
- The nil-rate threshold for home movers remains at £125,000.
- The first-time buyer nil-rate threshold remains at £300,000 (on properties up to £500,000).
- The stamp duty surcharge for buyers of additional homes remains at 5% (after being raised in a previous budget).
- Housing Supply: The government committed to increasing the supply of affordable housing through a £5 billion investment plan, including expanding the Affordable Homes Programme and providing support to small housebuilders.
- Right to Buy: The discount on purchasing council homes under the Right to Buy scheme will be reduced, and local authorities will be able to retain receipts from social housing sales for reinvestment into new supply.
