What will Wednesday's Budget mean for landlords and developers?

By the Bridge & Build Finance team · 26 October 2026

What is already set before the Budget?

Some rules will not change on Wednesday, or are already fixed for later dates. All of the following are on GOV.UK today.

• Stamp duty. The residential Stamp Duty Land Tax rates for England and Northern Ireland run from 0% up to £125,000 to 12% above £1.5 million. Buyers who already own a home usually pay 5% on top, and non-UK residents usually pay a further 2%. Scotland and Wales have their own taxes. Our guide to stamp duty and bridging loans explains how it is paid when you buy with a bridge.
• Rental income. From 6 April 2027 landlords who own property in their own name will pay income tax on property income at 22%, 42% and 47%, two points above the main rates, under a policy paper from the November 2025 Budget.
• The mansion tax. The High Value Council Tax Surcharge will charge owners of homes in England valued at over £2 million a yearly sum on top of council tax from April 2028. City AM reports the charges run from £2,500 to £7,500 a year.
• Capital gains tax. Current rates are 18% on gains within the basic rate band and 24% above it.

Our earlier Budget preview covers how each of these affects a bridge or a build.

Will Your First Home help new-build sales?

This is the measure developers are watching most closely. Your First Home, announced in September, would let first-time buyers in England buy a new-build home with a 2.5% deposit and a 20% government equity loan, with the details due in the Budget. Our report on Your First Home and the Building Safety Levy covers what was announced.

What follows is reported, not confirmed. On 23 October Mortgage Solutions, citing The Times, reported that the household income cap could be set at £110,000, or £140,000 in London. Today's Conveyancer notes that earlier reports put the caps at £90,000 and £110,000 in London, and that The Sunday Times reported a property price cap of £500,000.

For a developer, a wider pool of buyers could help sales rates on homes priced under any cap. If your exit depends on first-time buyers, look at your unit prices against the final cap on Wednesday, and allow time for the scheme to start. A development exit loan can give you more time to sell if completions run ahead of buyers.

Is capital gains tax going up?

Possibly, but not by as much as some feared. On 14 October Property Industry Eye reported, citing the Financial Times, that the Chancellor will not bring capital gains tax into line with income tax, but that a smaller rise is still possible.

For landlords selling an investment property, any rise would cut what is left after the sale, not what is owed to a lender. Developers who build to sell through a company are usually taxed on trading profits, so a change to capital gains tax may not touch the scheme at all. How it applies to you depends on how you hold the property, which is a question for your accountant. Our guide to limited company and SPV bridging covers how lenders treat company borrowers.

Is a property value tax coming?

Not in this Budget, on everything reported so far. A yearly property value tax is a proposal from campaigners, not government policy.

The campaign group Fairer Share has called for a Proportional Property Tax, a yearly charge of 0.48% of a home's current value that would replace both council tax and stamp duty, as MPA reported in July, after its petition passed 100,000 signatures. The Chartered Institute of Taxation noted in September that 15 Labour MPs had published a paper backing the idea, and that the Prime Minister told the BBC he was not considering it and it would not be in the Budget. Propertymark reported in July that changes to stamp duty had been ruled out for this Budget, while longer-term reform has not been ruled out.

On the mansion tax, The Times reported in September, according to Reuters, that the Chancellor was considering lowering the threshold to £1.5 million, but on 11 October City AM, citing The Sunday Times and the Financial Times, reported that he had ruled this out.

Could a bank tax push up borrowing costs?

Banks are another reported target. On 16 October ITV News reported that bank shares fell after The Guardian said one option being considered is to raise the surcharge on bank profits from 3% back to 8%. Nothing has been confirmed, and nobody can yet say whether any change would reach lending rates.

Bridging and development lenders are funded in many different ways, from bank deposits to investor money, so any effect would vary between them. Rates are already the bigger question. Our report on inflation and the 5 November rate decision explains why fixed mortgage rates have risen ahead of the Bank of England, and what that means for a refinance exit.

One measure is already announced. On 23 October the Treasury said it would streamline home buying and selling, saving businesses in the transaction chain £116 million a year, with details due on GOV.UK on 28 October.

What it means for your funding

Lenders assess the property, the plan and the exit, and a Budget changes the numbers around a deal rather than how lenders look at it. Before Wednesday, it pays to do four things.

• Keep live deals moving. A late completion can cost more than any tax change.
• Run your development appraisal with a slower sales rate, then check it again against the final Your First Home rules.
• If you plan to refinance onto a buy-to-let mortgage, test the rent at today's higher rates. Bridge-to-let agrees both loans at the start, and our guide to bridging exit strategies covers what lenders expect.
• Read the Budget documents on GOV.UK, not the headlines, and look for start dates.

We search the market across bridging and residential development lenders and approach those that suit your plan, whatever the Budget brings.

Common questions

This article reports news and published figures as at 26 October 2026. It is for general information only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Bridge & Build Finance is a commercial finance brokerage service, not a lender. Finance is subject to status, lender criteria, valuation, underwriting and approval.