The run-up to the 2025 Budget was described as “chaos” by most brokers surveyed by Black & White Bridging.
Black & White asked brokers whether they would describe the pre-Budget period as “chaotic”. Five out of six respondents, representing 84%, agreed and characterised the period as “chaotic” and “very messy”.
Only one in nine brokers, or 11%, disagreed, while 5% said they were unsure. The survey was conducted by Black & White Bridging during the week leading up to the Budget held on Wednesday 26 November 2025. The lender did not disclose the sample size.
BROKERS REPORT CONFUSION AND UNCERTAINTY
Damien Druce, chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, said: “At the industry’s most forgiving, I think the run-up to the Budget might be described as ‘turbulent’, but 84% of brokers describing Ms. Reeves best efforts as ‘very messy’ paints a pretty damning picture of disarray in Number 11.
“It’s a near-consensus among industry professionals, many of whom have spent the last month navigating client concerns over potential policy shifts. Uncertainty over property taxes and housing policies has undermined sentiment, echoing wider concerns about radical changes that could disrupt property markets.”
Druce added: “We have heard from brokers telling us that the constant leaks and revisions have made it impossible to advise clients with any confidence. The Chancellor is entirely to blame for causing a great deal of this economic uncertainty over the last month.”
Despite these frustrations, earlier research from the lender has suggested a more positive long-term sentiment, with 72% of brokers predicting growth in the bridging market over the remainder of 2025, even with the disruption caused by the late Budget.
PERSONAL REASONS
Druce then gave his personal take on the Budget and the government: “However messy the run-up, I think the Budget was a colossal missed opportunity. We need to reform our welfare system and tackle its ballooning bill. The welfare state was intended to be a safety net for people who found themselves in difficulties or to provide help for those unable to work because of disability.”
He continued: “I was brought up on a council estate, in poverty, and I’ve always strived for more based on hard work, not hand-outs. The idea that living on benefits might become a way of life for generations of workless people would have been anathema to William Beveridge, the architect of the welfare state.”
Druce said: “Rather than reforming welfare entitlements and cutting the country’s spending though, Ms. Reeves is scrapping the two-child benefit cap, costing the country an additional £3bn.
“Labour MPs have already scuppered an earlier attempt to reform Personal Independence Payments. Given the Chancellor wants to cut debt, that meant more tax, and without an increase in income tax, that in turn meant raising more money from property.”
He added: “Instead, Ms. Reeves should have reduced welfare spending, saving billions, keeping taxes down and boosting growth.
“Sadly, that would have required vision, political will and leadership. All things that Ms. Reeves and this government do not appear to possess.”
