A Rightmove survey of 10,000 potential movers carried out before the budget found almost one in five (17%) had paused their plans due to uncertainty about any potential changes to property taxes. Now the wait is over, and many of the rumoured changes failed to materialise, what does that mean for the housing market?
Experts from the across the legal sector, property industry, finance world and proptech landscape share their insight and predictions for the rest of the year and beyond.
A green light for buyers and sellers
“Now the budget cards are on the table, it’s a green light for buyers and sellers to waste no time to get a move underway. Mortgage lending has continued throughout the pre-budget blues and affordability has improved as wages have risen, loan to income ratios have increased and interest rates have fallen… There’s a very good chance that the bank will cut the base rate in December which will be the best news for mortgage borrowers across the board.”
Enzo Mora, CEO and founder of The Mortgage Brain
“Today’s budget delivers welcome relief for the 210,000 homeowners selling properties over £500,000, removing the threat of a new annual property tax that had stalled market activity. We expect this to renew buyer interest as we head into 2026, particularly across London and southern England where a large share of homes for sale sit above this threshold.”
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla
A missed opportunity
“Many consumers may have been left confused after months of speculation and the expectation of large-scale changes to stamp duty, that nothing materialised on this subject. Such uncertainty can cause market hesitation, which is not helpful for economic momentum and stability. With an average deposit for first-time buyers currently sitting around £60,000, the prospect of homeownership continues to prove difficult for many first-time buyers. It is disheartening not to see wide-ranging support for people intending to step onto the property ladder, and this factor might prove a missed opportunity for the UK Government to promote greater economic stability down the line.”
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark
“With so little in the autumn budget to stimulate the housing market, the uncertainty that’s been holding things back is likely to persist. Aside from the newly revealed council tax surcharge on £2m+ homes, there’s nothing here to boost confidence or give the market direction. There’s plenty of headline noise, but not enough clarity to genuinely reassure the wider market – especially buyers and sellers at the lower end of the scale, where confidence has been most fragile.”
Sanjay Joshi, director at London estate agent Lawsons & Daughters
“Rachel Reeves could have done us all a favour by reducing stamp duty rates for first-time buyers and all residential purchases below £500,000. Lowering a transaction tax like this would have decreased upfront costs for buyers and stimulate demand, especially among younger first-time buyers. Evidence from past cuts shows sales volumes increasing within months. She could have introduced a temporary stamp duty holiday for properties under £750,000 for the next 12 months. Historically these boost market activity – just look at the impact this had in 2020 when buyers rushed to complete deals before the due date and sellers list more properties. A cut in stamp duty would have signalled government support for brokers, conveyancers and agents. The new mansion tax signals precisely the opposite.”
Richard Sexton, commercial director, Houzecheck
Nothing to fuel demand
“After months of anticipation, today’s budget will bring nothing but frustration for the nation’s homebuyers, who were hoping to see some form of stamp duty reform, at the very least. Stamp duty is one of the most significant financial hurdles in the home buying process and the property market needs permanent reform in this respect, not continued inertia. The property market has stood strong over the course of the last year, but no news is certainly not good news in this instance and won’t light the touch paper with respect to driving buyer demand levels.”
Verona Frankish, CEO of Yopa
“Many households were waiting to see whether stamp duty would be addressed before committing to a move, but with no reform forthcoming, they are now left navigating the same high upfront costs that prove to be such a significant barrier to homeownership for so many. The absence of any stamp duty relief means we are unlikely to see the release of pent up demand that could have helped lift momentum going into 2026. With clarity at least restored, many will begin to move again, but without action on the upfront cost of moving, we should expect progress to be steady rather than swift.”
Colby Short, CEO of GetAgent
Look on the bright side
“The government will not benefit from the tax income of those who do not or cannot enter the market due to affordability and to make matters worse, the availability of housing for this group is limited because the tax is putting people off climbing the ladder. The current fragmented transaction process also takes too long and is too uncertain to deliver the benefit claimed in the budget – takes over 22 weeks from instruction to completion. This is costing the economy £1.5bn a year in lost transactions according to Santander, and costing the average consumer £1200. The one upside of changes is that we can keep the industry on an even keel, buying time to digitise the back-end infrastructure that supports the transaction process, before any change to taxation sends demand skyrocketing.”
Joe Pepper, UK CEO, PEXA
“Thanks to earlier changes made this year by regulators and lenders, many more people could now move home than this time last year. In fact, we have a very high number of mortgage products available, so there’s still plenty to be positive about. There is of course more the chancellor could’ve announced today, for example, some much-needed changes to stamp duty or a revival of a housing tax relief such as Mortgage Interest Relief At Source (MIRAS). However, what we do have now is certainty, improved affordability, falling mortgage rates, and a record number of mortgage products for people to choose from.”
Ben Thompson, deputy CEO, Mortgage Advice Bureau
Recovery is on the horizon
“A stable but functional property market is an essential requirement for the country’s prosperity. If we have a workforce that can move to new areas of opportunity, then we help to create the environment for economic growth. The kite flying of various taxation scenarios that we have seen over recent months has all but frozen the residential markets. We hope now that, despite the news of the mansion tax, we will have a period of certainty that has been so lacking under the current chancellor. With clarity now replacing months of speculation, home movers can proceed with greater confidence. While transaction volumes often dip in the months following a budget, the significant number of downsizers and lifestyle movers in the market means activity is likely to recover in the longer term.”
Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops
“As with so many budgets before it, the run-up to today’s announcement has seen a clear ‘wait-and-see’ sentiment across the housing market. If nothing else, the clarity we now have, rather than ongoing speculation, is welcome. Fiscal measures announced in a budget have the power to either inject confidence and stimulate activity or, conversely, apply the brakes. Our hope is that today’s measures achieve the former, particularly given the significant knock-on effect the property sector has on the wider economy. Above all, what the market needs now is stability and a clear pathway that encourages buyers and sellers to move forward with confidence. We’ll be watching closely to see how today’s announcements translate into real-world activity over the months ahead.”
Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals
“For property buyers, one of the most important parts of this budget was how the markets respond – and an unprecedented leak of the budget means we’ve had an early indication that the market response is positive. This paints a brighter picture for the all-important cost of borrowing, which is integral to the performance of the property market; it determines sentiment, confidence, planning and spending power.”
Paresh Raja, CEO of Market Financial Solutions
