NEWS·NOVEMBER 2025
After months of speculation that paralysed parts of the market, the Chancellor delivered the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025. For property, two measures stand out.
The first is a new council tax surcharge on homes valued above £2m, widely labelled the mansion tax, applying from 2028 with bands rising to several thousand pounds a year for the most expensive properties. The second is a two percentage point increase in the rates of income tax on property income, taking the basic rate for landlords to 22% from April 2027.
The run up to this Budget was one of the most damaging periods of rumour the housing market has endured. Proposals trailed and withdrawn, from capital gains changes to stamp duty reform, froze decision making at the top end of the London market through the autumn. Transactions at £2m and above slowed markedly as buyers and sellers waited.
With the measures now confirmed, that fog lifts. The mansion tax affects a thin slice of the market, roughly the top one percent of homes, and its impact will be concentrated in prime London postcodes. The landlord tax rise is more material for yields, particularly for highly leveraged individual investors, and will accelerate the professionalisation of the rented sector.
Our advice to clients through the speculation was consistent: do not let rumour dictate timing on good assets. With clarity restored, we expect the pent up pipeline of prime and super prime instructions to feed through into a busier first quarter of 2026.
NEWS·NOVEMBER 2025
After months of speculation that paralysed parts of the market, the Chancellor delivered the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025. For property, two measures stand out.
The first is a new council tax surcharge on homes valued above £2m, widely labelled the mansion tax, applying from 2028 with bands rising to several thousand pounds a year for the most expensive properties. The second is a two percentage point increase in the rates of income tax on property income, taking the basic rate for landlords to 22% from April 2027.
The run up to this Budget was one of the most damaging periods of rumour the housing market has endured. Proposals trailed and withdrawn, from capital gains changes to stamp duty reform, froze decision making at the top end of the London market through the autumn. Transactions at £2m and above slowed markedly as buyers and sellers waited.
With the measures now confirmed, that fog lifts. The mansion tax affects a thin slice of the market, roughly the top one percent of homes, and its impact will be concentrated in prime London postcodes. The landlord tax rise is more material for yields, particularly for highly leveraged individual investors, and will accelerate the professionalisation of the rented sector.
Our advice to clients through the speculation was consistent: do not let rumour dictate timing on good assets. With clarity restored, we expect the pent up pipeline of prime and super prime instructions to feed through into a busier first quarter of 2026.