In its Budget 2026 fact sheet, the UK Government says this package is about 'putting local leaders in the driving seat of good growth'. For the North, the standout line is clear enough: ministers say the whole of the North will be covered by a devolution deal for the first time, as part of a plan to get more than 90 per cent of England’s population under devolution and reach full coverage by the end of 2028. That matters because devolution only means something when it changes who calls the shots. On the government’s account, more control over buses, housing and skills is meant to move out of Whitehall and closer to the places that have to make growth work on the ground.

One of the bigger changes is financial. Business rates are due to become a fully locally retained tax by the end of the decade, with mayors receiving 20 per cent from April 2027 and the local authority share rising to at least 70 per cent in the years after that. For northern councils, that is a serious shift from a model where places are told to grow but do not keep enough of the reward. The government is also promising to help councils go after business rates avoidance, including a General Anti-Avoidance Rule and support with external legal costs when cases end up in court. If that works as intended, authorities that are already stretched will have a better chance of keeping more of the money raised in their own areas.

The housing offer is sizeable on paper. Ministers are putting in an extra £1.5 billion to deliver 10,000 homes across England, with funding prioritised for Social Rent, especially council homes. That takes planned investment in the Social and Affordable Homes Programme to more than £40 billion over 10 years, while preferential Public Works Loan Board borrowing rates for council house building will stay in place for another year. For northern authorities dealing with waiting lists, ageing stock and sites that have been slow to move, the focus on council-led building will land better than yet another short-lived competition for one-off grants. Whitehall is also promising fewer grants and lighter reporting rules at the Spending Review, which may sound technical but will matter to councils that have spent years bidding and reporting instead of building.

Then there is the smaller but still useful money that often decides whether a town centre scheme gets off the ground. A new £125 million Derelict Buildings Fund will back 60 English local authorities to turn long-empty sites into what communities actually need, from health centres to civic spaces, alongside a wider High Streets Strategy. There is also £80 million for a new Local Renewal Fund across the UK, including in non-mayoral areas. The government says that cash will go into local projects, jobs, economic regeneration, heritage assets and other work that can strengthen local economies. For towns that do not always make the front of the queue, that detail matters nearly as much as the headline number.

Households get a direct measure too. From January 2027, homes in council tax bands A to D in England are due to receive a £100 Household Energy Payment, with ministers saying up to 20 million households could benefit. Another £100 million will go to local authorities to help residents most affected by rising bills. Nobody across the North will mistake £100 for a full answer to high energy costs, especially through winter. But for many families it will at least be something immediate, and the extra local pot gives councils some room to target support where the pressure is sharpest.

For mayors and combined authorities, the most important document may be the Fiscal Devolution Roadmap. The government says all mayors will begin receiving income tax assignment from 2028, keep a larger share of business rates, and gain powers through legislation to bring in an Overnight Visitor Levy across Strategic Authorities. That is a bigger constitutional move than the usual Budget small print. It means city regions that grow their tax base should see more of the return locally. The first wave of Mayoral Strategic Authority Business Rates Retention Zones is due to cover nine authorities, subject to legislation and full business case approval, with places including Derby and Selby named by ministers.

Budget 2026 also confirms £165 million in 2027-28 for places with a mayor in 2027 to roll out Good Growth Funds, plus a bespoke borrowing facility worth £1.5 billion for Mayoral Strategic Authorities that ministers say will be operating by 2028. On top of that comes a £150 million uplift in 2027-28 for the staff capacity and technical expertise authorities will need if they are going to handle extra powers properly. That staffing point is easy to miss, but it may prove one of the more useful parts of the package. Devolution stalls quickly when councils are asked to do more with thin teams. The No.10 North Priority Projects Programme is also being extended, with £28 million of fresh backing for schemes in Don Valley, Bristol Temple Quarter and Leeds South Bank to help move projects along and draw in private investment.

Areas still on the way to a full devolution deal have not been left out. The government says it is in the final stages of agreeing 10 new arrangements, and is setting aside a £120 million share of Good Growth Fund incubator capital for places moving towards Strategic Authority status. Those areas, along with places electing mayors for the first time in 2027 and 2028, will also be brought into the No.10 North Priority Projects Programme. Ministers also say Foundational Strategic Authorities and local authorities will get the chance to put forward Business Rates Retention Zone proposals as they work through the process. There is still a fair question underneath all of this: how much freedom local leaders will really have once the announcements are out of the way. For northern readers, though, the direction is hard to miss. If ministers follow through, more of the choices about buses, homes, skills, high streets and local tax growth will sit in the North itself, not in Whitehall offices far removed from the places expected to deliver them.