Autumn Budget 2026 and Stamp Duty: What Changes on 28 October

Key Takeaways

The Budget is on Wednesday 28 October 2026. The Chancellor commissioned the OBR forecast for that date on 31 July 2026, and the OBR will publish its Economic and fiscal outlook the same day
On 27 July 2026 the Prime Minister ruled out changing or scrapping stamp duty at this Budget, saying "That won't be happening"
That statement covered this Budget, not the whole Parliament, so it is not a permanent commitment
On 7 September 2026, in his first speech as Chancellor, John Healey declined to rule out tax rises generally, saying "If I respond to speculation now, that will only spawn more speculation"
So stamp duty specifically has been ruled out for 28 October while property taxation generally has not, and press coverage often merges the two
One property measure is already announced: the High Value Council Tax Surcharge on English homes worth £2m or more, from April 2028. It is an annual charge on owners, not a purchase tax, and it is not stamp duty
SDLT rates and thresholds are unchanged from 1 April 2025 and nothing announced so far changes what you pay on a purchase completing today

The Short Answer

No change to stamp duty has been announced for the Budget on 28 October 2026, and the Prime Minister has specifically ruled one out. If you are buying a home now, the rates that apply are the ones set on 1 April 2025, and nothing said so far changes the figure on your return.

The reason the question keeps coming back is that two different things are being reported as one. Stamp duty has been ruled out for this Budget. Property taxation in the wider sense has not, and the Chancellor has pointedly declined to rule out tax rises. A headline about a property tax shake-up is not necessarily a headline about stamp duty.

Confirmed vs Speculation

Everything below is separated by whether it is on the record or not. Dates are the date the statement was made, so you can check the age of anything you read elsewhere.

Item	Status	Source and date
Budget on Wednesday 28 October 2026	Confirmed	OBR forecast commissioned by the Chancellor, 31 July 2026
No change to stamp duty at this Budget	Stated by the PM	Andy Burnham, 27 July 2026
High Value Council Tax Surcharge from April 2028	Announced	Budget 2025, consultation closed 14 July 2026
Wider tax rises at this Budget	Not ruled out	John Healey, 7 September 2026
Stamp duty replaced by a land value tax	Speculation	No government proposal published
Stamp duty and council tax merged into one property tax	Speculation, and denied	Rejected by the PM, 27 July 2026
Any change to SDLT rates or thresholds for buyers	Nothing announced	Rates unchanged since 1 April 2025

The Date and How It Was Set

The Budget will be delivered on Wednesday 28 October 2026. The date is fixed by the Chancellor commissioning an economic and fiscal forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility, which happened on 31 July 2026. The OBR has confirmed it will publish an updated Economic and fiscal outlook on the same day.

This is John Healey's first Budget as Chancellor and the first fiscal event of Andy Burnham's premiership, which began on 20 July 2026. That matters for how much weight to give pre-Budget speculation: a new Chancellor has no track record to read, so forecasters are working from the Prime Minister's past positions rather than from anything the Treasury has published.

What Has Actually Been Said

Three statements are doing most of the work in current coverage. All three are quoted below with their dates, because the difference between them is the whole story.

Andy Burnham, Prime Minister, 27 July 2026

Asked whether stamp duty would be changed or abolished, the Prime Minister said: “That won't be happening. It's just not the case that we are bringing together stamp duty and council tax in this year's Budget.” This is the clearest statement available, and note the words “this year's Budget”. It rules out 28 October. It does not rule out a later fiscal event.

John Healey, Chancellor, 7 September 2026

In his first speech as Chancellor, at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, Healey pledged “fiscal discipline” and balancing the books “with a buffer to protect against uncertainty”. Asked repeatedly whether taxes could rise, he declined to say: “If I respond to speculation now, that will only spawn more speculation.” He did confirm one Budget measure with a property dimension, a roadmap to fiscal devolution including greater business rates retention for councils and a share of local income tax for mayoral strategic authorities from 2028. That is local government finance, not a purchase tax.

Gordon Brown, 4 September 2026

Speaking on The Rest Is Money podcast, the former Prime Minister argued against adding new property levies, saying “property is taxed quite heavily in Britain as part of a wealth tax” and that “you've got to look at a reform of existing taxes” instead. He has no role in setting this Budget, and the intervention is included here only because it is being widely quoted as though it signals government thinking. It does not.

The Property Measure That Is Confirmed

One property tax change is already announced, and it is routinely confused with stamp duty. The High Value Council Tax Surcharge was announced at the Budget in November 2025 and applies to residential properties in England worth £2 million or more, from April 2028. It is charged on owners rather than occupiers, sits on top of council tax, and starts at £2,500 a year, rising to £7,500 a year for properties valued above £5 million. Bands are based on updated valuations identifying properties worth £2m or more in 2026. The government estimates it will raise £400 million in 2028-29.

A consultation on the design ran from 19 May to 14 July 2026, covering who is liable in different ownership situations, proposed exemptions for student halls, military and diplomatic accommodation and social housing, and a deferral mechanism for owners without the income to pay each year. The outcome has not been published, and the government has said the main provisions will appear in a future Finance Bill. That makes it a live candidate for detail at the October Budget.

Why this is not stamp duty

Stamp duty is a one-off tax on a purchase. The surcharge is an annual charge on ownership. Someone who never moves will pay the surcharge every year and no stamp duty at all. If you see a headline about a “mansion tax” and you are budgeting for a purchase, it is almost certainly not about the tax you are about to pay. We cover it in detail in our guide to the annual surcharge and the consultation on how it will work.

The Rates as They Stand Today

These are the rates in force for England and Northern Ireland, unchanged since 1 April 2025 and unaffected by anything announced for October:

0% up to £125,000, then 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000, 10% to £1.5 million and 12% above that
First-time buyers pay nothing up to £300,000, with relief available on purchases up to £500,000
An additional property, such as a second home or buy to let, carries a 5% surcharge on every band from £40,000
Non-UK residents pay a further 2% surcharge

Scotland and Wales set their own rates and are not affected by a UK Budget in the same way. See our 2026 stamp duty rates for the full tables, or work out your own figure with the stamp duty calculator.

Should You Delay Your Purchase?

On the evidence available, no. The Prime Minister has ruled out a stamp duty change at this Budget, so a buyer holding off until 29 October to see what happened would, on current information, be waiting for an announcement that is not coming.

There is also a structural reason not to wait even if you expect a cut eventually. Stamp duty changes are normally announced with a start date, and cuts have historically taken effect either immediately or several months later. A buyer who delays is taking a certain cost, which is the risk of losing the property and the price movement in the meantime, against an uncertain saving. The one case where timing genuinely matters is a change already legislated with a future start date, and there is no such change to SDLT on the books.

We work through the timing question properly in should I wait for stamp duty changes.

What Would Have to Happen for Rates to Change

Replacing stamp duty is not a single decision. It would need a replacement tax designed, consulted on and legislated, and stamp duty raises a substantial and reliable sum that the Treasury would have to find elsewhere. That is the practical reason the various reform proposals keep being discussed without being adopted, and why the Prime Minister was able to rule one out for this Budget without abandoning his long-standing interest in land value taxation.

The reform proposals on the table sets out each option and who is backing it, and what Burnham becoming Prime Minister means for stamp duty covers his own record in more detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will stamp duty change in the Budget 2026?

No change has been announced, and on 27 July 2026 the Prime Minister ruled out changing or scrapping stamp duty at this Budget, saying “That won't be happening”. That covered the Budget of 28 October 2026 specifically rather than the whole Parliament.

When is the Autumn Budget 2026?

Wednesday 28 October 2026. The Chancellor commissioned the OBR forecast for that date on 31 July 2026, and the OBR will publish its Economic and fiscal outlook the same day.

Is stamp duty being abolished?

Not at this Budget. Reports that stamp duty and council tax would be replaced with a single annual property tax were rejected by the Prime Minister on 27 July 2026. No government proposal to abolish stamp duty has been published.

Has the Chancellor ruled out tax rises at the Budget?

No. On 7 September 2026 John Healey declined to rule out further tax rises, saying “If I respond to speculation now, that will only spawn more speculation”. That is a statement about taxation generally. It does not reopen stamp duty, which the Prime Minister had already ruled out for this Budget.

Should I complete before the Budget?

There is no announced change to complete ahead of. Because no stamp duty change is expected on 28 October, there is no deadline to beat, and delaying a purchase to see the Budget means carrying the risk of losing the property for an uncertain benefit.

Does the mansion tax affect what I pay when I buy?

No. The High Value Council Tax Surcharge is an annual charge on owners of English homes worth £2 million or more from April 2028, paid alongside council tax. It is not a purchase tax and it does not change your stamp duty.

How This Page Will Be Updated

Pre-Budget reporting changes weekly and much of it is unsourced. This page is maintained on a simple rule: a claim moves from speculation to confirmed only when it is attributable to the government on a date, and every statement carries the date it was made so you can judge how current it is.

It will be updated on 28 October 2026 with what the Budget actually did to stamp duty, including no change if that is the outcome. Until then, the answer to whether stamp duty is changing is the one at the top of this page.

Sources

This article summarises published statements, official documents and press reporting, and is not tax or financial advice. It is not affiliated with HMRC or GOV.UK.