Help to Save made permanent and set for expansion

Help to Save will be made permanently available for new savers and expanded from April 2028 to all households receiving the child or carer's element of Universal Credit, the Government confirmed at Autumn Budget 2025¹. The scheme had been due to close to new savers in April 2025².

The confirmation came in the Government's response to the Treasury Committee's report on Cash Individual Savings Accounts, published as a special report on 14 January 2026. The committee published its original report on 25 October 2025, and the Government Response was received as a letter from Lucy Rigby MP, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, dated 18 December 2025¹.

The Low Incomes Tax Reform Group describes the expansion as covering all Universal Credit claimants who receive the child element, the caring element or both². It notes that tax credits ended on 5 April 2025².

Help to Save pays a tax-free bonus of up to 50% of the amount saved, on a four-year account². Savers can pay in up to £50 each calendar month, and bonuses are paid on the second and fourth anniversaries of opening the account. Someone saving the maximum £2,400 over four years without withdrawals would receive bonuses totalling £1,200². The scheme is administered by HM Revenue & Customs and accounts are maintained by National Savings and Investments².

Eligibility currently requires being in the UK, not having opened a Help to Save account before, and being in work and, from 6 April 2025, receiving Universal Credit with earned income of at least £1 in the assessment period immediately before applying². The bonus is not treated as income for benefits purposes, but the account balance is treated as capital for Housing Benefit and Universal Credit, and a claim would be affected if total capital exceeds £6,000².

The same Government response also set out changes to Cash ISAs. The annual ISA allowance will be kept at £20,000, with the Cash ISA limit set at £12,000 from April 2027 for under-65s. Savers over 65 will continue to be able to save up to £20,000 in a Cash ISA each year¹. The Government said it is working with the Financial Conduct Authority to roll out Targeted Support for consumers from April 2026, and will allow Long Term Asset Funds to be held in Stocks & Shares ISAs from April 2026¹.

Why it matters for households

Help to Save has been closed to new savers since April 2025, so the confirmation that it will be permanently available means new accounts can be opened again at some point, though the sources do not give a date for when new savers can first open accounts under the permanent scheme¹. The expansion to households receiving the child or carer's element of Universal Credit takes effect from April 2028, which widens the group able to open an account beyond the current earned income condition¹.

For those already saving, the mechanics are unchanged: the £50 monthly cap, the four-year term and the 50% bonus calculated on the highest balance remain as described². Because the balance counts as capital for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit, saving towards the maximum can interact with a claim once total capital passes £6,000, and two partners each saving the maximum over four years would exceed that threshold². The bonus itself is not counted as income².

What happens next

The expansion to all households receiving the child or carer's element of Universal Credit is set for April 2028¹. The Cash ISA limit of £12,000 for under-65s takes effect from April 2027, Targeted Support from April 2026, and Long Term Asset Funds will be permitted in Stocks & Shares ISAs from April 2026¹. The sources do not state a date on which the scheme becomes permanently open to new savers, beyond the April 2028 expansion¹.