Budgets & fiscal events· Public finances Spread thin Analysing the Autumn 2026 Budget 29 October 2026 by Hannah Aldridge and Mike Brewer and Matthew Cavanagh and Tom Clark and Alex Clegg and Nye Cominetti and Ruth Curtice and Julia Diniz and Sophie Hale and Victoria Haigney and Stephen Hunsaker and Lindsay Judge and Zachary Leather and Larissa Marioni and Charlie McCurdy and Louise Murphy and Parth Pandya and Simon Pittaway and Cillian Sheehan and Hannah Slaughter and Imogen Stone and Greg Thwaites This briefing note assesses the Autumn 2026 Budget, the first from the new Chancellor, delivered against a backdrop of war in the Middle East, a fresh energy price shock and a weaker fiscal outlook. It looks at the economic and fiscal forecasts, the Budget’s cost of living, tax and spending decisions, and what they mean … Continued READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public finances Hitting the buffers Previewing the key decisions for Autumn Budget 2026 in the context of another rise in the cost of living 13 October 2026 by Hannah Aldridge and Matthew Cavanagh and Nye Cominetti and Ruth Curtice and Zachary Leather and Jonathan Marshall and Cillian Sheehan and James Smith Conflict in the Middle East has pushed up energy bills and borrowing costs, halving the Chancellor’s headroom. This briefing note sets out how Autumn Budget 2026 can target help at struggling families while rebuilding the buffer to at least £20 billion. READ MORE
Housing· Tax Home economics How to put England’s broken housing taxes on firmer foundations 24 September 2026 by Hannah Aldridge and Mike Brewer and Matthew Cavanagh England’s housing taxes are a mess: Council Tax still rests on 1991 valuations, and Stamp Duty gums up the market. This briefing note shows who loses out, and sets out a roadmap to a fairer, proportional tax on residential property. READ MORE
Housing· Social security Saving private renters Why the Government should unfreeze Local Housing Allowance 19 September 2026 by Hannah Aldridge and Mike Brewer and Stephen Hunsaker and Lindsay Judge Local Housing Allowance (LHA), which caps how much support is provided through the social security system to low-income private renters, was last relinked to the 30th percentile of rents in April 2024, and has been frozen in cash terms ever since. But private rents have risen considerably since then. READ MORE
Housing Housing Outlook Q3 2026 24 July 2026 by Hannah Aldridge Britain’s new Prime Minister has put “council housing” at the heart of his programme for government. [1] The case for building more affordable homes is strong: near-record numbers of families in England are living in temporary accommodation today, and 1.3 million households are on local authority housing waiting lists. But whether Andy Burnham means building … Continued READ MORE
Housing Housing Outlook Q2 2026 23 May 2026 by Hannah Aldridge Welcome to our latest Housing Outlook, launching a Resolution Foundation research programme on the future of the private rented sector (PRS). The PRS has more than doubled in size since the turn of the century, and the people who live within it look very different today compared to those it housed in the early 2000s. READ MORE
Housing· Macroeconomic policy Credit where credit’s due? Unpacking the distributional impact of Britain’s mortgage lending rules 26 March 2026 by Hannah Aldridge and Simon Pittaway and James Smith Almost half of Britain’s 8.3 million potential first-time buyers earn enough for a mortgage on a starter home, but just 11 per cent have enough saved for a deposit. A targeted equity-loan scheme is the best way to help up to one million locked out of home ownership READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public finances Understatement of the year Putting the 2026 Spring Forecast in context 4 March 2026 by Hannah Aldridge and Mike Brewer and Elliott Christensen and Tom Clark and Alex Clegg and Nye Cominetti and Ruth Curtice and Julia Diniz and Sophie Hale and Lindsay Judge and Zachary Leather and Jonathan Marshall and Charlie McCurdy and Louise Murphy and Simon Pittaway and Cillian Sheehan and Hannah Slaughter and James Smith and Imogen Stone and Jamie Titus-Glover and Lalitha Try The Spring Forecast was billed as a non‑event, but the underlying story is stark: weak growth, rising risks, and only a fleeting improvement in living standards. Our analysis shows why makerspolicy makers can’t rely on good fiscal luck lasting. READ MORE
Budgets & fiscal events· Public finances Stairway to headroom Putting the Autumn Budget 2025 decisions on tax, spending and borrowing into context 27 November 2025 by Hannah Aldridge and Mike Brewer and Elliott Christensen and Tom Clark and Alex Clegg and Nye Cominetti and Adam Corlett and Ruth Curtice and Julia Diniz and Sophie Hale and Lindsay Judge and Zachary Leather and Jonathan Marshall and Charlie McCurdy and Louise Murphy and Simon Pittaway and Hannah Slaughter and James Smith and Imogen Stone and Greg Thwaites and Lalitha Try The Chancellor’s second tax-rising budget arrived under dark clouds, but forecasts came in better than feared. But even though she was saved from the worst predictions of past weeks, the Chancellor still faced a tough task to clear three big hurdles – fixing the public finances, easing the cost of living squeeze on families, and taxing smartly and fairly. This briefing note argues that she did clear these hurdles, albeit not flawlessly. She scraped over … Continued READ MORE
Housing· Social security Housing Outlook Q4 2025 25 October 2025 by Hannah Aldridge In 2012, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) levels were linked to the 30th percentile of local rents and automatically revised to reflect market changes. However, since the systematic link with market rents was broken 13 years ago, the Government has frozen LHA rates eight times, and repegged to the market level just twice (in 2020 and … Continued READ MORE
