Budget 2026: Households earning over £110,000 locked out of revived Help to Buy scheme October 28, 2026 Households earning more than a combined £110,000 are set to be excluded from the revived Help to Buy scheme, the Autumn Budget confirmed. First-time buyers earning over a combined £110,000 outside London will be locked out of benefiting from the £4.7bn government-backed funding providing equity loans in the Your First Home Scheme, and £140,000 inside [...]
Budget 2026: Healey uses state-backed lenders to ramp up borrowing October 28, 2026 John Healey has revealed plans to increase borrowing through the UK’s state-owned business lender and infrastructure bank. The Chancellor has allocated an extra £20.4bn to the country’s two major state-owned policy banks for the next five-years. The National Wealth Fund will get around £15.4bn, while the British Business Bank will receive £5bn. “I will work [...]
Budget 2026: Healey unveils data centre deal in bid to keep Britain’s AI data in the UK October 28, 2026 John Healey has unveiled a new deal offering data centre developers priority access to Britain’s electricity grid in exchange for investment in jobs and environmental protections. Announcing the British Data Centre Covenant in Wednesday’s Budget, Healey said the government would impose strict conditions on developers while helping critical facilities secure the power needed to support [...]
Budget: Healey hikes taxes and delays defence spending as economy set to slump October 28, 2026 John Healey has announced a string of tax hikes to fund short-term measures worth billions of pounds to help households and businesses cope with rising prices, in a maiden Budget that omitted major spending plans on defence and welfare. In his speech, the Chancellor said the government would look to raise defence spending to three [...]
Budget 2026: Healey reduces threshold for Business Asset Disposal Relief October 28, 2026 Chancellor John Healey has confirmed that he will reduce the threshold for Business Asset Disposal Relief in Capital Gains Tax. Healey lowered the threshold for business asset disposal relief (BADR) in capital gains tax (CGT) from £1m to £500,000 which he said will mean “no changes for three in four claimants”. But industry figures have [...]
Budget 2026: Healey freezes fuel duty again October 28, 2026 John Healey has frozen fuel duty for a 15th consecutive year and extended the Ukraine war 5p cut, as part of a raft of small measures aimed to shield households from the Middle East conflict. The Chancellor confirmed the levy on petrol and diesel would remain frozen at 53p a litre until July, saying: “For [...]
Healey funds high street tax cuts with raid on gambling firms and online sellers October 28, 2026 The government will fund tax breaks for small high street shops by hiking taxes on gambling and cracking down on online sellers, John Healey said. In his first Budget, the Chancellor said he will slash taxes on the high street by raising the threshold at which small firms start paying business rates from £12,000 to [...]
Budget 2026: Healey grants HMRC sweeping powers to chase tax debts October 28, 2026 John Healey has given HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) more funding and sweeping powers “to collect overdue tax from those who can clearly afford to pay but ignore repeated contact”, in yet another clampdown on tax debts. The move marks a major expansion of the taxman’s power and comes amid the government’s push to stamp [...]
Budget 2026: Healey reverses Reeves’ cash Isa cut October 28, 2026 John Healey has scrapped plans to slash the cash Isa allowance in his maiden Budget, ending the controversial measure introduced by his predecessor. Healey has confirmed the ceiling on the savings product will remain unchanged at £20,000 instead of being cut to £12,000 from April 2027. The cutting of the allowance was designed by former [...]
Budget 2026: Poorest pensioners shielded from income tax October 28, 2026 Chancellor John Healey has confirmed he will shield low-income retirees from income tax as the state pension is set to rise above the personal allowance threshold next year, in a move expected to cost the government around £200m a year by 2030. Healey said the government would protect nearly one million pensioners who are dependent [...]