The recent Autumn Budget that took place on the 26th November 2025 was full of drama from the leaks in the run-up culminating in the early reveal of their report by the Office of Budget Responsibility; I wondered if Rachel Reeves our Chancellor had any surprises left. Discussions about the timing (a whole month later than when we normally have it) the weak economy, as well as speculation rife with threats of tax increases to fill a fiscal black hole meant people expected the worst.
In the realms of residential property people are so used to hearing about tax raids (SDLT, CGT and IHT) people were willing to take blind leaps on property transactions on nothing more substantial than rumours. The ‘mansion tax’ (as discussed in this BBC article –https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cj4w44w42j5o) has finally found its way from popular imagination into reality with the rental income of beleaguered landlords having once again been targeted, but for once that was it! Property practitioners everywhere were dazed and had a mixture of shock and relief and I for one was able to tell a lot of my clients that what they feared did not materialise and be thankful transactions were not unnecessarily derailed.
I think it is important to reflect on the fact that although this Budget did not in fact target the usual headline property taxes directly (and no doubt the fall out from what was announced will be reverberating for many years to come) but just because people thought it might happen it is just as damaging and caused the property market harm because it felt real. Having confidence and stability are cornerstones for any successful economy and the modern property lawyer should be ready to manage anxieties as it takes more than just knowledge and skills to navigate this successfully, a little bit of help from the Government would also help.
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