Chancellor John Healey delivers his first Budget on Wednesday 28th October, and it’s one scaffolding business owners have good reason to watch. Much of what’s being talked about is still speculation, but a few genuinely open questions could touch real day-to-day decisions, from what it costs to run your vehicles to what you’re paying out in wages. Here’s where things actually stand, a month out.
What’s already settled
There isn’t a huge amount locked in yet, and that’s normal a month out from Budget day. The Prime Minister has ruled out any rise to the main rates of Income Tax, VAT, or employee National Insurance, though that leaves thresholds and allowances open, and it doesn’t cover employer National Insurance either, the tax a business pays on top of its staff’s wages. That’s a separate question we’ll come back to under labour costs.
On the business side, the main reliefs that affect what a scaffolding business pays in tax on kit and vehicles look set to stay, even if the Budget tinkers around the edges. The one most businesses use is the Annual Investment Allowance. It lets you deduct the full cost of qualifying equipment, vans and lorries from your profits in the year you buy them, up to £1 million a year, whether you’re a sole trader, partnership or limited company, and whether the kit is new or second-hand. Limited companies can also claim full expensing, which works the same way on new, unused kit with no £1 million limit. Cars don’t qualify for either, and since April 2025 that includes most double cab pickups. The government has committed to keeping both reliefs for the rest of this Parliament. If you buy on hire purchase, you can usually claim from the point you take the kit or vehicle, not when you finish paying. Leasing is treated differently, so it’s worth checking with your accountant how a purchase will be treated before you commit. And if a new vehicle or piece of kit is on the cards this year, current borrowing costs matter too, which is exactly what our recent look at the Bank of England’s September rate decision covers.
What’s still genuinely up in the air
Fuel duty is the one that touches almost every scaffolding business, whatever else moves in the Budget. It’s currently held at 52.95p per litre, 5p below the full rate, thanks to a cut that’s been repeatedly extended since 2022. That reduced rate is confirmed to hold until 31st December 2026, but from 1st January 2027 it’s due to rise by 3p, then by a further 2p from 1st March 2027, taking it back to the full 57.95p rate. For a business running diesel trucks and vans, that’s a real cost working its way back in over the following few months. The government’s fuel duty rate schedule states plainly that the government will confirm the final rates at Budget 2026, so whether that rise happens on schedule, gets delayed again, or is brought forward is still an open question on the 28th.
The other big cost most scaffolding businesses carry is labour, and that’s still up in the air too. On the tax side, labour costs come down largely to employer National Insurance, currently charged at 15%, kicking in once a worker earns £5,000 a year, up from 13.8% and a £9,100 threshold when the rate rose in April 2025. That rise sits outside the Prime Minister’s tax pledge, so it’s fair game on the 28th, whether the Chancellor holds it, eases it back, or leaves it as is. If you employ people directly, or run a mix of employed staff and subcontractors, this is the one that could potentially hit your numbers.
Further out, but worth having on the radar, is new build housing and regional spending, the one with the most upside for scaffolding demand long-term, though it’s worth being clear-eyed about what’s actually tied to this Budget. The government’s £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme, running 2026 to 2036 and aiming for around 300,000 homes, was announced at last year’s Spending Review, so it isn’t something the 28th is going to decide one way or the other. That said, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s ongoing focus on housebuilding and Chancellor Healey’s own background as a former Housing Minister, regional infrastructure and housing delivery tend to get airtime at Budget events even when the big commitments were made earlier. Nothing specific is expected to be announced, but it’s worth watching all the same, since more homes being built generally means more scaffolding going up.
How to use the next month
You don’t need to overhaul anything before the 28th, but a few habits will carry you through cleanly whatever gets announced.
- Cash flow forecasts are worth keeping current over the next few months. Budget weeks tend to bring last-minute guidance and news, and that’s easier to react to when your numbers are already to hand.
- The details become official on the 28th, so anything decided before then is based on speculation rather than confirmed policy. Worth bearing in mind if timing on anything major is on your mind.
- Your accountant is best placed to flag anything Budget-related that’s specific to your business, particularly around labour costs, vehicle and equipment spending, or fuel duty.
We’ll cover what’s actually announced once the Budget happens, with a full breakdown of anything that affects scaffolding contractors directly.