A new chancellor, and advisers ask for tax stability for wealthy families

John Healey was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer on the evening of 20 July 2026. According to Professional Adviser, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s choice surprised commentators, who had expected Shabana Mahmood or Ed Miliband to fill the vacancy left by Rachel Reeves. Healey, who resigned as defence secretary in June over a dispute about military spending, is the sixth chancellor in just over four years. That churn is itself part of the story for anyone planning around UK tax.

What advisers are asking for

The immediate message from the advice profession was less a demand for any single measure than a plea to stop the speculation. Financial planners told Professional Adviser that Healey should limit the running commentary on tax and pensions and instead offer clarity and stability. The complaint is practical rather than political: rumours of measures that may never arrive push families into decisions that are hard to unwind, from accelerated gifting to restructuring, on the basis of headlines rather than law.

The changes already in train

Healey inherits a set of reforms that were decided before he took office and that bear directly on wealthy families and their estates.

From April 2027, unused pension funds are due to fall within the scope of inheritance tax. The Office for Budget Responsibility has estimated this will bring in an extra £700m in IHT between 2025/26 and 2030/31, and it reshapes how pensions sit within succession planning, since they can no longer be treated as a clean way to pass wealth down outside the estate.

Business and agricultural property relief is also being tightened. Qualifying assets keep full relief up to £2.5m, but value above that threshold attracts only 50 per cent relief, an effective 20 per cent inheritance tax charge on family businesses and farms above the line. For owners of trading companies and landed estates, that is the change with the sharpest edge.

Why it matters

None of this is settled from the family’s point of view, because the direction of the next Budget is unknown and the person setting it has just changed. For a UK-resident family or a family office administering UK assets, the takeaway is to treat policy as a live risk rather than a fixed backdrop, and to be wary of acting on speculation before it becomes law. It also feeds the relocation question that has run since the non-dom regime ended, where the pull of other jurisdictions is weighed partly on how stable the domestic rules feel. A settled rulebook would do more for planning than any single giveaway.

Sources: Professional Adviser.