Concerns over expected rises in Inheritance Tax, Capital Gains Tax and National Insurance within the autumn budget are making buyers nervous and damaging sales of new homes says developer Bellway’s chief Jason Honeyman (pictured).

There is hesitancy in the market at the moment.”

Honeyman told The FT: “There is hesitancy in the market at the moment. We have many customers who have got concerns about the October Budget . . . so they are delaying decisions.”

As a result, Bellway is reporting a weaker-than-usual autumn. Revenue did pick up in the second half of the year but fell 30% to £2.4bn over the 12 months to the end of July 2024 and pre-tax profits were down by almost 58% to £226mn.

Brighter future

Honeyman is more optimistic about the industry’s future prospects though, saying he expects a “stronger spring selling season once we get through this period of politics” and is forecasting completions would rise 11% to 8,500 for the next financial year.

And this process, he says, will be helped by falling mortgage rates and is already being reflected in Bellway’s share price which rose 8% in the early part of this week.

However, in a blow to Labour’s plans to initiate the biggest housebuilding programme in several generations, Honeyman does not expect output to return to 2023 levels (11,000 new homes) for some time.