With speculation in advance of the Autumn Budget at an all-time high and for longer than usual, the Budget couldn’t come quickly enough, if only to get rid of the uncertainty that had negatively affected homebuyers, home movers, the supply chain, clients and investors. The majority of the Budget was unsurprisingly focused on where the tax rises would be and how financial markets would react, rather than on capital investment, which was the focus of the government’s Spending Review earlier in the year. The Budget tax rises were backend-loaded towards the end of the parliament and not matched by spending cuts, which may be of concern to financial markets. However, on the positive side, the government did not make the same mistake as last year, when the burden fell largely on businesses through increases in employers’ National Insurance Contributions and lower the thresholds. However, it did announce an increase in the National Living Wage by 4.1% in April 2026, which means that it will have increased by 43% in the space of just five years.
In terms of key policies directly affecting construction and product manufacturing, the government published its response to the Landfill Tax, stating that it will not proceed with transitioning to a single rate of Landfill Tax by 2030, though the lower rate will essentially double to £8.65 per tonne in 2026/27. In addition, the government said that the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) will end in March 2026 to reduce household energy bills in the near term, while simultaneously announcing an additional £1.5 billion in capital investment for the Warm Homes Plan. However, it did not state what the £1.5 billion would be used for, except to note that further details would be available in the Warm Homes Plan.
Finally, while the government will publish a consultation in early 2026 on the implementation of a new, simpler ISA product to support first time buyers to buy a home, we were disappointed at the lack of a more comprehensive policy announcement to support those buyers. The CPA has warned that government has no chance of meeting its housing targets without a time limited, targeted policy to enable demand, and we now fear that its omission will lead to worsening job losses, skills shortages and manufacturing capacity in this essential sector.