CIAT responds to Autumn Budget 2026

CIAT President Usman Yaqub said: 

CIAT strongly supports measures to reform energy pricing, by removing standing charge and implementing a new cost control framework, so that households that invest in energy efficiency or clean heating measures are not penalised with higher costs.

We also welcome measures to invest in local communities, including through lower council borrowing rates, VAT relief on land sold to social housing providers and the allocation of a further £1.5 billion for the Social and Affordable Housing Programme, as well as devolution of tax and spending powers to local leaders over the longer term. 

Yet these steps fall far short of what is needed to deliver the council housing revolution promised by the Prime Minister.  

Meanwhile, the Chancellor’s efforts to unlock housing delivery fail to get to the root of the housing supply crisis and are likely to have significant unintended consequences.  

Excluding all brownfield development up to 1.5 hectares in size from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements risks fatally undermining the burgeoning nature recovery marketplace. And it does nothing to support the SME developments least able to compete in the housing market, which already benefitted from the BNG small sites’ exemption. 

Similarly, committing to no major changes to Building Regulations, except where these are safety critical, reduces the government’s capacity to tackle those regulations which do not protect the public, but continue to stifle high-quality development.  

And, most alarming, the Chancellor has sought to smuggle through a £1 billion cut to the Warm Homes Plan to fund defence, even though climate mitigation and adaptation are fundamental pillars of the UK’s national security.  

The Chancellor has sought to offer ‘breathing space for today and fresh hope for the future’. Today’s budget falls far short of this ambition.