Key voices from the residential property rental market have responded largely negatively to the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s 2025 Autumn Budget that took place earlier this week.
Ben Beadle, chief executive of the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA), said
The Budget will hit low-income renters hardest as they face a combination of rent increases and frozen housing benefit rates.
This comes despite the Chancellor arguing that she was tackling the cost of living, he stressed.
He said the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had made clear that increasing income tax in property income would result in higher rents.
An initial analysis by NRLA suggested this could see rents rise by £20 to £25 per month on a typical private rental property, rising to more than £40 per month in London.
Alongside this, the Work and Pensions Secretary, confirmed that housing benefit rates would remain frozen for a second year in a row.
He said this would affect almost 1.7 million private rented households across the country in receipt of housing cost support.
Government data had previously shown that, as of August this year, 53 per cent of this group had a gap between their housing benefit payment and their monthly rent.
This is now set to rise as a result of higher taxes leading to higher rents.
He added that the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) had recently warned the ongoing freezing on housing benefit rates was widening disparities for low-income renters.
An unprecedented coalition of 40 organisations representing landlords, tenants, homeless charities, advice services and local authorities had called for housing benefit rates to be unfrozen.
“It beggars belief that the government thinks it is helping renters,” he said.
“Piling on further tax rises that will drive up rents, while keeping housing benefit rates frozen, is a one-way street to hitting low-income tenants the hardest.
“This can only be described as a deeply regressive package that will make life more difficult for renters across the country.”
Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, said: “Many property agents and consumers will be left scratching their heads that, after months of speculation and the expectation of large-scale changes to stamp duty, nothing has materialised.
“All this speculation and uncertainty caused people to wait and see, which is not helpful for market activity and economic growth.
“A high value council tax surcharge will disproportionally hit homeowners in London and the South East, which is already the most troubled part of our property market, and it will distort property valuations across the country.
“Furthermore, placing further financial pressures on landlords through increasing additional rates of property income tax will simply increase rents, as costs are passed on to tenants.
“Overall, with the UK government’s ongoing target to build 1.5 million homes, and given their recent focus on home buying and selling, it is surprising the Budget does not include a wide-ranging package of support for people to get onto or move up and down the property ladder.
“With an average deposit for first-time buyers currently sitting around £60,000, ultimately, this feels like a missed opportunity to support renters, home buyers and sellers and promote greater economic activity through the housing market.”
