Guide · UK · Budget 2026
We read the published Budget documents on GOV.UK and pulled out what matters if you are self-building, extending your home or running a small building firm. Nothing here comes from previews or commentary.
Last updated 2 November 2026. Some details (Your First Home price caps by area, the Biodiversity Net Gain timeline) are still to be published.
Not tax or financial advice. Check the Budget 2026 document and speak to an accountant or adviser before you act.
A £4.7 billion equity loan scheme for first-time buyers of new-build homes in Englandfrom developers signed up to it. Buyers put down at least 2.5%, with a 20% government equity loan that is interest free for five years. Household income caps are £110,000 outside London and £140,000 in London; local price caps apply, with £650,000 for inner London and £500,000 for outer London. Pre-registration opens by the end of December 2026, full applications from February 2027 and the first property sales under the scheme from April 2027. GOV.UK's example caps outside London range from £220,000 (Middlesbrough) to £375,000 (Reading). Developers pay a fee per home sold through the scheme: 1% on the first 100 homes a year, 3% on homes 101 to 250 and 4% above 250. It does not cover a home you build or commission yourself. More in our Your First Home guide.
Source: GOV.UK — Your First Home
The government says it will not make major changes to building regulations for the rest of this Parliament, except to keep improving building safety, including the Grenfell Inquiry recommendations. Useful if you are worried about specs moving mid-design.
Residential brownfield developments on sites up to 1.5 hectares in England will be exempt from Biodiversity Net Gain. The timeline for the exemption has not been set yet; it will come with the full consultation response.
Source: Budget 2026, section 7.11
MHCLG's PlanAssist tool is to be available to all councils in England by the end of 2027, subject to further testing, and councils will have to publish key planning documents as open data by the end of 2027. The government says the aim is to halve routine planning decision times; it is not a change to the rules you apply under.
Source: Budget 2026, section 7.11
The temporary 5p-per-litre fuel duty cut is extended to 1 July 2027 and the planned RPI increase is deferred to the same date. Relevant if you or your trades run vans.
Source: Budget 2026, fuel duty measures
From 1 April 2027 the National Living Wage rises 3.9% to £13.21 an hour, and the rate for 16 to 17-year-olds and eligible apprentices to £8.31. £100 million over 2027-28 and 2028-29 expands mayoral apprenticeship brokerage from 7 to 14 areas in England, with SMEs named as a focus. Large government construction and infrastructure projects will have to have at least 3% of their workforce as apprentices.
Both go up in line with RPI from 1 April 2027 (Landfill Tax rounded to the nearest 5p). Worth a line in your budget if your quarry materials or skip and muck-away costs land after April.
Source: HMRC — Overview of tax legislation and rates, 1.75 and 1.83
The Stamp Duty Land Tax measures in the documents are technical: group relief rules for companies, relief for the Local Government Pension Scheme, and removing SDLT on rent under assured tenancies. None of them is a change to the residential rates you pay when buying a plot or a home.
Source: HMRC — Overview of tax legislation and rates, 1.61–1.63
We found no measures on the DIY housebuilders VAT scheme, VAT on renovations, the Building Safety Levy or the Boiler Upgrade Scheme in the Budget document or the overview of tax legislation and rates. Our guides explain how each works now:
Add any changes that affect you as cost or funding lines in your budget in ConstructionPro.io. The app doesn't calculate tax.
Not with a self-build-specific measure that we could find in the published documents. The relevant changes are indirect: no major building regulation changes this Parliament, a Biodiversity Net Gain exemption for small residential brownfield sites in England, fuel duty, wages and RPI rises to Aggregates Levy and Landfill Tax from April 2027.
No. It is for first-time buyers of new-build homes in England bought from developers that have signed up to the scheme.
Household income up to £110,000 outside London or £140,000 in London. Property price caps are set by local authority area, with £650,000 for inner London and £500,000 for outer London (GOV.UK examples elsewhere include £220,000 in Middlesbrough and £375,000 in Reading); the full list is due to be published shortly.
Pre-registration by the end of December 2026, full applications from February 2027 and first property sales under the scheme from April 2027.
The Stamp Duty Land Tax measures in the documents are technical (group relief, Local Government Pension Scheme relief and rent under assured tenancies). None changes the residential rates.
We found no measures on any of them in the Budget document or the overview of tax legislation and rates. See our separate guides for how each one works today.
Related: UK market overview.