The Autumn Budget 2025 will be delivered on Wednesday, 26 November 2025, by Chancellor, Rachel Reeves. The Budget is framed around a simple but demanding mission: make the economy work better for working people. The government's own framing emphasises "investment and reform" as the tools to achieve this as Reeves continues work on "fixing the foundations".
Why the date and timing of Budget 2025 matter
Budget days usually anchor more than a single speech; they set the timetable for a comprehensive economic package and the publication of the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
That OBR document assesses the latest projections for growth, inflation, borrowing, and debt, and it tests whether the Chancellor's plans are consistent with the government's fiscal rules. Placing the Budget in late November gives the Treasury and OBR time to incorporate incoming economic data and for ministers to finalise complex policy choices.
How will inflation, rates, and markets affect Budget 2025
This Budget arrives amid a challenging environment. Inflation has fallen from its peaks, but borrowing costs have remained elevated by historical standards. Media and market coverage has repeatedly pointed to the sensitivity of gilt yields (long‑term government borrowing rates) to policy signals and economic news. Higher yields raise debt interest costs and reduce fiscal headroom. That in turn constrains choices: if you are aiming to adhere to fiscal rules (for example, to have debt on a declining path by a target year), you must calibrate tax and spending decisions carefully.
The Chancellor's recent messages underscore the emphasis on fiscal discipline to "bring down inflation and borrowing costs". In practice, this suggests the Budget is unlikely to feature broad‑based giveaways unless offset by credible revenue or spending measures.
Will Budget 2025 raise taxes?
The burning question! The government has reiterated pledges not to raise VAT, National Insurance, or income tax rates. However, this is underlined to apply only for "working people". So, this channels attention toward other parts of the tax system for rises, and to spending prioritisation.
Things being discussed include:
- Capital taxes: changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rates or allowances; alignment with income tax bands sometimes floated by commentators.
- Inheritance Tax (IHT): tightening reliefs or changing rules around gifts and business assets.
- Property‑based taxes: reforming council tax or stamp duty, or considering land/value‑based approaches; exploring ways to make property taxation more progressive and less like to distort.
- Base‑broadening: measures like applying National Insurance to some forms of non‑wage income (e.g., rents) are periodically discussed in external previews.
- Targeted levies: windfall‑style measures in specific sectors or bank interest earnings in particular macro conditions have been raised by some think tanks as options.
Is there going to be spending on infrastructure, planning, and public services?
There are several strands of policy focus this Budget:
- Raise living standards for workers, including via policies like the National Living Wage (which the government notes has benefited around three million workers).
- Reduce NHS waiting lists, which is an ongoing priority given pandemic backlogs and workforce pressures.
- Overhaul planning to unlock housing supply, with a headline ambition of enabling 1.5 million new homes.
- Increase public investment, including billions for infrastructure, and deliberately spread investment across regions.
- Pursue pro‑trade policies. This includes deals with major partners such as the US, India, and the EU in order to support growth.
These priorities point to a growth strategy rooted in productivity through efficiencies such as removal of red-tape. Faster planning equals more housing (which can improve labour mobility and affordability), and stronger infrastructure.
The Budget is likely to weave these strands together with targeted business policies, potentially investment allowances, sector‑specific incentives (including green/energy), and regulatory overhauls to ease bottlenecks.
How do the Economy Forecasts see it?
Debt interest costs remain high compared with the 2010s.
Underlying growth is modest in most forecasts, limiting revenue buoyancy.
Demands on public services (especially health and social care) continue to rise.
Defence and other priority commitments consume more of the spending envelope.