Autumn Budget 2026: Gateley reaction

Our legal and business experts have provided their reaction to the Autumn Budget delivered by Chancellor John Healey on 28 October across a wide range of topics.

Residential development

Hardeep Kooner, Director at Gateley Built Environment, said: “More than £1bn of additional investment in the Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) is a welcome step towards increasing the supply of much-needed affordable housing. However, additional funding alone will not solve the 1.5m new homes challenge. Alongside unlocking planning and regulatory barriers, the focus must now be on turning that investment into deliverable schemes, particularly given the scale and complexity of the development pipelines that registered providers and developers will be managing over the coming years.

“Long-term funding certainty gives the sector an important opportunity to plan ahead, but successful delivery will depend on having the right capacity and expertise in place throughout the development process. Ensuring schemes remain viable, managing risk effectively and maintaining quality will be critical if this additional investment is to translate into homes on the ground.”

Jonathan O’Shea, Director for Gateley Built Environment, added: “The focus on strategic sites and MOD land is welcome, but identifying land for 100,000 homes is very different from delivering them. Homes England, the National Housing Bank and the £700m Strategic Sites Accelerator can all help, but the real test will be whether they tackle the practical barriers preventing sites from coming forward.

“Support for first-time buyers and greater financial firepower for Mayors are also positive steps. But ultimately, success will be judged on delivery: unlocking land, providing the infrastructure needed for development and ensuring there are enough homes available for people to buy.”

Property tax

The Chancellor announced that land which is sold to Registered Providers (RPs) will be zero-rated for VAT purposes.

Jo Dugdale, Legal Director at Gateley Legal, commented: “This announcement will allow disposals to RPs earlier, before construction works have taken place, and allow RPs to access their funding sooner. Developers will be relieved of the burden of funding the construction works, and there will be no need to incur monitoring costs to determine whether golden brick has been reached.

“Under the new rules, there will now be situations where both VAT zero-rating of land and Stamp Duty Land Tax sub-sale relief are available, providing an attractive potential saving that could help boost housing supply.”

Read our detailed insight here.

Pensions

Philip Jelley, Pensions Partner, said: “From April 2027, the new Pension Tax Allowance will ensure that people above State Pension age whose total income does not exceed the full new State Pension do not pay income tax solely because it has risen above the Personal Allowance. The £1-for-£3 taper should also soften the impact for those with modest additional income, although clarity for pensioners and ease of administration will be crucial.

“The revised Triple Lock aims to place State Pension spending on a more sustainable footing from 2030 but may produce lower increases in some years. Other welcome measures include greater flexibility in the terminal-illness test and removal of the two-year rule that can make otherwise tax-free pension death benefits taxable merely because payment was delayed.”

“The Government is also removing the two-year rule, under which beneficiaries can face income tax on pension and lump sum death benefits that would otherwise have been tax-free simply because payment was made more than two years after the scheme administrator first knew, or could reasonably have been expected to know, of the member’s death. The change will apply to payments made on or after 28 October 2026 and therefore appears capable of covering payments relating to earlier deaths. This extension is welcome as it will make life easier for pension trustees and administrators; however, trustees should still aim to complete any decision-making process in a timely and efficient manner.”