Landlords and the Autumn Budget

The Autumn Budget is due to be announced on 26 November 2025 and there could be some significant financial implications for landlords. The government is expected to target landlords as they look for ways to increase revenue.

At this point, there is speculation that National Insurance could be applied to rental income, along with the possibility of replacing stamp duty with an annual property tax.

While we will have to wait for the official announcement to see whether the speculation is close to the mark, landlords will understandably be slightly anxious about how it could impact their property investment.

What changes are expected in the Autumn Budget?

Early indications are showing that landlords could face the following changes:

Applying National Insurance to rental income

According to recent reports, the Budget could introduce National Insurance contributions on rental income. If this is aligned to the same rate as wages, which is 8%, this would obviously have a big impact on rental income.

Landlords are already paying tax on rental income and the changes to mortgage relief some years ago has already taken its toll and squeezed profit margins. Adding NI contributions would further decrease landlord profits, in a time where mortgage interest rates are considerably higher than they were a few years ago.

Many tax experts are predicting that the introduction of NI on rental income will lead to higher rents for tenants.

Annual property tax to replace stamp duty

Another change that could be included in the Autumn Budget is a shake up to stamp duty, affecting both homebuyers and landlords. Instead of paying one upfront stamp duty tax, annual levies could be applied, based on the property value.

There have not been many details shared on this potential outcome, but what has been circulating so far hints that there could be around a 0.54% annual levy on properties valued at over £500,000 and a further 0.278% supplement on properties valued at over £1m.

If this information is accurate, landlords buying properties in areas of the UK where house prices are the highest would be heavily impacted. This could lead many property investors to explore investing in other areas where properties are more affordable to avoid the higher tax rates.

This could be good news for landlords who focus on buying lower value properties, as the possible tax change primarily focuses on high-value properties. The average house price in the UK is around £270,000 (based on figures from June to August 2025), and the average price in Somerset is around £275,000.

Stamp duty thresholds

If stamp duty does not get replaced, or the plans are to introduce it at a later date, there is a good chance that the existing stamp duty thresholds could see some tweaks to generate more revenue for the government.

The UK government has the difficult challenge of trying to increase revenue, while not causing too much disruption to the property market. These rumoured changes could potentially encourage landlords to exit the property investment industry, which would ultimately reduce housing supply for tenants.

Adding NI contributions is also likely to lead to rent increases. Given that one of the key intentions of Renters’ Rights Bill is to provide tenants with fair rent amounts, landlords may not be able to fully recoup their NI contributions by raising rents to cover these increased costs.

What next?

The expected date for the Autumn Budget to be announced is 26 November 2025, so there is not long to wait to find out the full financial implications for landlords.