Autumn Budget 2026: What Changed for UK Property Investors, and What Did Not

Chancellor John Healey delivered the Autumn Budget on Wednesday 28 October 2026, and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published its new forecast on the same day. For anyone who owns UK property, or is thinking of buying it, the useful question is not what the speech sounded like but what actually changed in the numbers. The answer is a short list, and most of it is not about stamp duty.

This guide goes through every measure that touches a property investor, with the exact rates, the dates they start and worked examples in pounds. All figures come from the official Budget documents, GOV.UK guidance and the OBR, and the sources are listed at the end. Where something is a forecast and not a rule, it says so.

The short answer: what changed and what did not

Stamp duty rates did not change, and neither did the Capital Gains Tax rates on residential property. The one clear tax rise for property investors is on rental income, and the one big confirmed item for expensive homes is the new council tax surcharge that starts in 2028. Here is the whole picture in one place:

Key dates at a glance

Most of the Budget's property measures start in 2027 or 2028, not now, which leaves time to plan. The dates that matter to an investor are:

Did stamp duty change? No

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in England and Northern Ireland stays exactly where it was. The Budget's list of tax measures contains only technical SDLT items, for example a tightening of group relief from 29 October 2026, and no change to rates or bands. That matters to overseas buyers, because the two surcharges that shape their costs are untouched. The current residential rates, as published on GOV.UK, are:

The surcharges stack, and they apply to the whole price, not just the top slice. A non-resident buying an additional home pays the standard rates, plus 5% for the additional property, plus 2% for non-residence. Nothing in this Budget makes that total higher or lower, so the stamp duty budget you worked out before 28 October is still the right one. Here is what the total looks like for a non-UK resident buying an additional home at five price points:

These are illustrations from the published rates, before any relief or exemption that might apply to a particular buyer. The legal costs, broker fee and any bank charges come on top.

Landlord tax: the one real change

Income tax on property income goes up by a further 2 percentage points from 6 April 2027. The rates for property income will be 24% for basic-rate taxpayers, 44% for higher-rate taxpayers and 49% for additional-rate taxpayers, according to the Budget documents on GOV.UK. They apply to England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A second step, not a first

The 2025 Budget had already added 2 percentage points to property and savings income from April 2027, and this Budget adds another 2. Compared with today's property income rates of 20%, 40% and 45%, the position from April 2027 is 4 percentage points higher in every band. The Treasury's own costing note calls the new measure a rise for "unincorporated landlords", meaning individuals and partnerships.

Who is affected

The change applies to rental income taxed as personal income. A UK limited company that owns property pays corporation tax instead, at 25% for the main rate and 19% for the small profits rate according to the Budget document, so the personal property rates do not apply to its rental profit. The Treasury expects some landlords to move their property into companies in response, and it describes that response as limited. Moving an existing property into a company can itself trigger stamp duty and capital gains tax charges, so it is a decision for a tax adviser, not a reflex.

Mortgage interest relief rises with the rate

Individual landlords cannot deduct mortgage interest from rental income. They receive a tax reduction on finance costs instead, at the basic rate. The Treasury's costing note says finance cost relief "will continue to be aligned to the property basic rate", so from April 2027 that relief is 24% and not 20%. The rise softens the blow for landlords with a mortgage, but only partly, because a higher-rate or additional-rate landlord pays 44% or 49% on the profit and receives relief at 24% on the interest.

A worked example

Take a landlord whose rent, after allowable running costs, leaves £18,000 of taxable property profit before finance costs, and who pays £8,000 of mortgage interest in the year. All the profit falls in one band in each case.

With no mortgage the rise is larger: on the same £18,000 of profit, a landlord in either band pays £720 more a year. Real tax bills depend on other income, the personal allowance and the limits on the finance cost reduction, so treat these as sizes, not as your own figures.

Overseas landlords

If you let a UK property while living abroad, the rent is taxable in the UK, and you need to declare it in a Self Assessment tax return unless HMRC tells you not to. By default the letting agent, or the tenant if there is no agent, deducts basic rate tax from the rent and passes it to HMRC. You can apply to HMRC on form NRL1i to receive the rent in full and pay through your tax return instead, and HMRC will not approve that if your tax affairs are not up to date. If your UK income is below your personal allowance you can claim back tax that was deducted. How the new rates apply to you also depends on your residence and any tax treaty, which a UK tax adviser can confirm.

What to do before April 2027

The practical steps are small. Ask a tax adviser whether personal ownership or a company suits the property you own or plan to buy. Recalculate the net yield of each property with the new rates. Check that your letting agent knows your residence status and, if you want to receive rent in full, that your NRL1i approval is in place. And register your rental property when the new service opens, because landlords in England will pay a £65 fee for it from 15 December 2026.

Capital Gains Tax: rates unchanged

Capital Gains Tax rates on residential property are unchanged. GOV.UK shows 18% for gains that fall within the basic-rate band and 24% above it, and the annual exempt amount is £3,000 for the 2026 to 2027 tax year. As an illustration, a gain of £90,000 after allowable costs, with the £3,000 exempt amount deducted, leaves £87,000 taxable. If the whole amount is taxed at 24%, the bill is £20,880.

Two points matter for overseas owners. First, a non-resident who sells UK residential property must report the sale to HMRC and pay any tax within 60 days of completion, and must report even when there is no tax to pay. Second, the one CGT change in this Budget sits outside residential property: the lifetime limit for Business Asset Disposal Relief falls from £1 million to £500,000 for disposals from 6 April 2027, and that relief covers qualifying business assets, not a normal buy-to-let.

The mansion tax is now confirmed for April 2028

The High Value Council Tax Surcharge, often called the mansion tax, will apply from April 2028 to residential properties in England valued at £2 million or more, and the first bills are due in March 2028. The owner pays it, on top of normal council tax. The annual charge depends on the value band:

So a £2.3 million penthouse is charged £2,500 a year, a £4.2 million house £5,000 and a £6 million home £7,500. The charges will rise with inflation (CPI) each year from 2029 to 2030, and properties will be revalued every five years, with the next revaluation in 2033. There is a deferral option for homeowners with a household income of £35,000 or less, capital savings of £16,000 or less, or a disability in the household, with a fair rate of interest charged on the deferred amount. A 100% premium applies to homes left substantially unfurnished and unoccupied for 12 months or more. The surcharge is for England only.

For most flats under £2 million this changes nothing. It is a real consideration for prime central London houses, large penthouses and anyone who expects a purchase to be valued above the line by 2028, because a property just below a band edge can cross it at revaluation.

What the OBR forecast says about prices, mortgages and supply

The OBR expects house prices to grow around 2% in 2026 and 2.5% in 2027, then about 2.75% a year from 2028. It expects transactions of around 1.2 million in 2026, rising to around 1.3 million in 2031, which is about 4% below its March forecast. The average effective mortgage rate across all outstanding mortgages is forecast to rise from 4% in 2026 to around 5% in 2031, and mortgage payments are expected to reach 4¼% of household disposable income by 2031, the highest since 2009. Its growth forecast for the whole economy is around 1¼% in 2026 and around 1% in 2027.

For a buyer, that points to a steady market rather than a fast one. Slow price growth is a reason to focus on rental income and on the quality of the building and location, and not on a quick rise in value. Higher financing costs are a reason to speak to a mortgage broker early about how long to fix and how much to borrow.

On supply, the OBR now expects about 220,000 net additions to the housing stock in 2026 to 2027, rising to 260,000 by 2030 to 2031, which is about 190,000 fewer homes over the period than it forecast in March. It puts this down to weak demand, rising material costs and other regulatory changes in construction. A forecast is not a promise, and a change in mortgage rates or incomes would move these numbers.

First-time buyer and new-build measures: why they matter even if you invest

The Budget confirmed £4.7 billion for Your First Home, a scheme in which the government lends 20% of the price of a participating new-build home in England, with deposits from 2.5% and no interest on the loan for the first five years. The Treasury expects it to help about 70,000 households, with applications opening in the new year and first completions from April 2027. Separately, from 29 October 2026 the withdrawal charge on a Lifetime ISA used for a home above the price cap falls from 25% to 20%, and a new First Time Buyer ISA will replace the Lifetime ISA for new savers before April 2029, keeping the 25% government bonus for a first home worth up to £450,000.

These measures are aimed at UK first-time buyers, not at overseas investors. They matter to you in one way: they are designed to support demand for new-build homes in England, which is the part of the market many investors buy into. An extra £1.5 billion for around 10,000 social and affordable homes, taking the total in the programme above £40 billion over ten years, sits alongside them, and building regulations are largely frozen for the rest of this Parliament apart from safety rules.

What this means for different types of investor

The Budget affects each type of buyer in a different place, and most of the effect is on tax after you own the property, not on the cost of buying it:

What did not happen

Several things that people feared or expected before the Budget did not appear in the official documents. The stamp duty rates and bands did not change. The 5% additional property surcharge and the 2% non-resident surcharge did not change. Capital Gains Tax rates on residential property did not change. The council tax surcharge threshold stays at £2 million. The Budget documents we reviewed contain no new charge on overseas owners of UK homes. If something is reported later, it will be in legislation and in HMRC guidance, and that is where to check it.

Questions investors ask after the Budget

Will stamp duty go up for overseas buyers?

No change was made in this Budget. The 2% non-resident surcharge and the 5% surcharge for additional homes stay as they are, and the rates apply to the whole price in the way described above.

Does the new landlord tax apply to my company?

Not the personal property income rates. A company pays corporation tax on its rental profit instead. The Treasury's costing note describes the measure as a rise for unincorporated landlords, meaning individuals and partnerships.

Will my rental income be taxed at 44% or 49%?

Only the part of your total income that falls in the higher or additional band is taxed at those rates. A basic-rate taxpayer pays 24% on rental profit from April 2027. Which band you are in depends on all your UK taxable income, so the right answer comes from your own return, not from a headline rate.

Is it still worth buying to let in London?

That depends on the price, the rent and the building, and a 4 percentage point rise in tax on profit changes the net yield by a modest amount. In the worked example above it adds £400 a year for a landlord with a mortgage and £720 for one without, on £18,000 of profit. It is one input in the numbers, next to the purchase price, the service charge and the OBR's more cautious view of price growth.

Do I need to do anything now?

Nothing is due now, because the new rates start with the 2027 to 2028 tax year. It is a good time to ask a tax adviser about ownership structure, to update your yield calculations, and to make sure your letting agent and HMRC records match your residence.

Optivest Note: The most common mistake we see after a Budget is reading one headline rate in isolation. A 4 percentage point rise in landlord tax sounds large, but on a typical rental profit it is a few hundred pounds a year, while the choice of building, the location and the purchase price move the result by far more. The second mistake is assuming the rules are the same for everyone. Residence, ownership structure and other income change the answer, which is why we ask clients to take a short call with a UK tax adviser before they buy.

Optivest Note: Many overseas buyers focus on the stamp duty figure and forget the 60-day deadline to report a sale and the annual Self Assessment return. Both are easy to handle when they are planned for on day one, and expensive when they are found out later.

Sources and the date of these figures

Optivest is a property investment advisory and an FCA-authorised mortgage broker. We do not give tax advice, and this article is general information, not advice for your situation. Please confirm how these rules apply to you with a qualified UK tax adviser, a solicitor regulated by the SRA, or an FCA-regulated mortgage broker before you act. The figures above are correct as of 30 October 2026 and may change when the legislation is published. They are taken from the official documents below.