How much you can put into ISAs this year, and the different kinds

Every spring, banking apps fill with reminders about “using your allowance before it goes”. For a couple with a few thousand pounds in an ordinary savings account, the reminders raise more questions than they answer. How much can go in, which kind of ISA, and does anything change next year? This year the last question matters more than usual, because a change to cash ISAs has now been written into regulations.

The allowance for 2026/27

GOV.UK says the maximum you can save in ISAs in the 2026/27 tax year, which runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027, is £20,000. It can go into one account or be split across several. You must be 18 or over to open an adult ISA. GOV.UK describes ISAs as a way to save tax-free, and HMRC’s Budget 2025 policy paper says interest and dividends on assets held in an ISA are entirely tax-free. That is why ISA interest does not count towards the limits explained in when interest on savings starts to be taxed.

The allowance belongs to each person, not each household, so a couple can each pay in £20,000. Unused allowance does not carry forward: it resets on 6 April. A government newsletter from November 2025 says the £20,000 overall limit will stay unchanged until April 2031.

The four kinds of adult ISA

• Cash ISA: a savings account paying tax-free interest.
• Stocks and shares ISA: investments such as shares and funds, whose value can fall as well as rise.
• Innovative finance ISA: peer-to-peer lending and similar arrangements, which carry their own risks.
• Lifetime ISA: cash or investments, with a government bonus, covered in the next section.

The Lifetime ISA as a first-home savings account

To open a Lifetime ISA you must be 18 or over but under 40, and make your first payment before you turn 40. You can pay in up to £4,000 a tax year, and GOV.UK says this counts towards the £20,000 limit. You can only pay into one Lifetime ISA in a tax year. The government adds a 25% bonus, up to £1,000 a year. Payments and the bonus stop at 50.

The money can be withdrawn without a charge to buy a first home if:

• the property costs £450,000 or less;
• you buy at least 12 months after your first payment in;
• a conveyancer or solicitor acts for you, and you buy with a mortgage.

Other withdrawals generally face a 25% charge, which GOV.UK says can leave you with less than you paid in. Its example: £800 saved plus a £200 bonus makes £1,000, and withdrawing it costs £250, leaving £750.

None of this applies to the current year. Up to 5 April 2027, the whole £20,000 can still go into cash ISAs at any age.

A replacement for first-time buyers is planned

The government has consulted on a new First Time Buyer ISA, which it says will be offered in place of the Lifetime ISA once available. The consultation closed in August 2026. It proposes paying the bonus when the money is used for a home purchase, with no withdrawal charge. No launch date has been set. Until then, GOV.UK says it remains possible to open a Lifetime ISA, and existing holders can keep saving into it under the current rules indefinitely.

Flexible ISAs and transfers

Some ISAs are “flexible”: you can take cash out and put it back in the same tax year without using up more allowance. GOV.UK’s example is someone who pays in £10,000 and withdraws £3,000; with a flexible ISA they can still pay in £13,000 that year, but £10,000 if it is not flexible. Your provider can tell you which kind you have.

To move an ISA, contact the provider you want to move to and complete its transfer form. Transfers can be to the same type of ISA or a different one, and can include money from this year or earlier years. GOV.UK warns that if you withdraw the money yourself instead, you cannot reinvest that part of your allowance.

What changes from 6 April 2027

The Budget on 26 November 2025 announced a cap on cash ISA saving. HMRC’s policy paper of 17 September 2026 confirms that, from 6 April 2027:

• people aged under 65 can pay no more than £12,000 a year into cash ISAs;
• the overall ISA limit stays at £20,000, so the other £8,000 can go into other kinds of ISA;
• people aged 65 and over can still put the full £20,000 into cash ISAs.

The regulations, the Individual Savings Account (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026, were laid before Parliament on 14 September 2026. HMRC also describes rules to stop the cap being sidestepped for under-65s: no transfers from stocks and shares or innovative finance ISAs into cash ISAs, and a charge on interest paid on cash held inside those ISAs.

None of this applies to the current year. Up to 5 April 2027, the whole £20,000 can still go into cash ISAs at any age. The new limit is on payments in each year, not on money already saved.

All three splits are within the £20,000 allowance in 2026/27. The final column applies the cash ISA limit for savers under 65 announced for 6 April 2027. The figures are invented and are not a recommendation.

Who this matters for, and what to check

• Savers under 65 who usually put more than £12,000 a year into cash ISAs, for whom 2026/27 is the last year under the current rules.
• Couples, who each have their own £20,000 allowance; couples comparing allowances may also want to read about the Marriage Allowance for married couples and civil partners.
• People aged 18 to 39 saving for a first home, who may weigh the Lifetime ISA’s bonus against its withdrawal charge.
• Anyone planning to switch provider, who should use a transfer rather than withdrawing.
• Investors receiving dividends outside an ISA: see when dividends need to be reported to HMRC.

The short version

For 2026/27 the allowance is £20,000 per adult, of which up to £4,000 can go into a Lifetime ISA, plus £9,000 per child in a Junior ISA. From 6 April 2027, under-65s will be limited to £12,000 a year in cash ISAs within the same £20,000. ISAs are opened directly with a bank, building society or investment provider.