'Save cash ISAs and keep £20,000 limit' urge building societies and others in open letter to the Chancellor
More than 50 building societies and other financial firms have signed an open letter urging the Chancellor Rachel Reeves to save cash ISAs by keeping their £20,000 tax-free limit. The move comes amid reports Ms Reeves will announce a cut to the cash limit in her Mansion House speech on Tuesday 15 July.
The Treasury hasn't confirmed the cut, but said it's looking at options to encourage consumers to invest more.
Reacting to the reports earlier this month, MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis said it would be "a mistake" and raised doubts over whether it would actually encourage investment.
Building societies and other firms pen open letter to the Chancellor on cutting the cash ISA limit
Here's a copy of the letter in full:
9 July 2025
Dear Chancellor,
We are writing to express our concern regarding recent speculation about cuts to Cash ISA subscription limits.
Cash ISAs are a cornerstone of personal savings for millions across the UK, helping people from all walks of life to build financial resilience and achieve their savings goals.
Beyond their personal benefits, Cash ISAs play a vital role in the broader economy. The funds deposited in these accounts support lending, helping to keep mortgages and loans affordable and accessible. Any significant reductions to the Cash ISA limits would make this funding more scarce which could have the knock-on effect of making loans to households and businesses more expensive and harder to come by. This would undermine efforts to stimulate economic growth, including the Government's commitment to delivering 1.5 million new homes.
Cutting the Cash ISA limit would send a discouraging message to savers, who are sensibly trying to plan for the future and undermine a product that has stood the test of time. It would make the whole ISA regime more complex and make it harder for people to transfer money between cash and investments.
Restricting Cash ISAs won't encourage people to invest, as it won't suddenly change their appetite to take on risk.
We know that barriers to investing are primarily behavioural, therefore building confidence and awareness are far more important. There are opportunities to capitalise on the transformational changes to the advice-guidance boundary and to look again at risk warnings so that they encourage and reassure rather than scare people off investing. And we know that Cash ISAs themselves also act as a gateway to Stocks & Shares ISAs.
We also call for a long-term consumer awareness and information campaign to educate people about the benefits of investing, alongside maintaining strong support for saving.
We therefore urge you to affirm your support for Cash ISAs by maintaining the current £20,000 limit. Preserving this threshold will enable households to continue building financial security while supporting broader economic stability and growth.
Signed:
A full list of the 51 building societies and financial firms that have signed the letter
Matt Bland, Chief Executive, Association of British Credit Unions Limited
Andrew Whyte, Chief Executive, Association of Financial Mutuals
Richard Ingle, Chief Executive, Bath Building Society
Janet Bedford, Chief Executive, Beverley Building Society
Dan Wass, Chief Executive, Buckinghamshire Building Society
Robin Fieth, Chief Executive, Building Societies Association
Peter Burrows, Chief Executive, Cambridge Building Society
Samantha Homer, Chief Executive, Capital Credit Union
Stephen Penlington, Chief Executive, Chorley Building Society
Steve Hughes, Group Chief Executive, Coventry Building Society
Des Moore, Chief Executive, The Cumberland Building Society
Andrew Craddock, Chief Executive, Darlington Building Society
Scott Devereux, Chief Executive, Earl Shilton Building Society
Gareth Griffiths, Chief Executive, Ecology Building Society
Mark Bogard, Chief Executive, Family Building Society
Simon Broadley, Chief Executive, Furness Building Society
David Ross, Chief Executive, Glasgow Credit Union
Mark Selby, Chief Executive, Hanley Economic Building Society
Lucy Thomas, Corporate Affairs Director, Hargreaves Lansdown
Tracie Pearce, Chief Executive, Harpenden Building Society
Annette Barnes, Interim Chief Executive, Leeds Building Society
Andy Deeks, Chief Executive, Leek Building Society
Gary Brebner, Chief Executive, Loughborough Building Society
Paul Wheeler, Chief Executive, Mansfield Building Society
Iain Kirkpatrick, Chief Executive, Market Harborough Building Society
Rob Pheasey, Chief Executive, Marsden Building Society
Simon Taylor, Chief Executive, Melton Building Society
Cecila Mourain, Chief Homebuying and Savings Officer, Moneybox
John Woods, Executive Chairman, Moneyfacts Group plc
Will Carroll, Chief Executive, Monmouthshire Building Society
Dame Debbie Crosbie DBE, Group Chief Executive, Nationwide
Phillippa Cardno, Chief Executive, Newbury Building Society
Andrew Haig, Chief Executive, Newcastle Building Society
Sue Hayes, Chief Executive, Nottingham Building Society
Zack Hocking, Penrith Building Society
Mike Ellicock, Chief Executive, Plain Numbers
Julie-Ann Haines, Principality Building Society
Michael Boyd, Chief Executive, Progressive Building Society
Colin Field, Chief Executive, Saffron Building Society
Paul Denton, Chief Executive, Scottish Building Society
Stuart Haire, Group Chief Executive, Skipton Group
Richard Norrington, Chief Executive, Suffolk Building Society
Alun Williams, Chief Executive, Swansea Building Society
Joanna Causon, Chief Executive, Institute of Customer Service
Carol Knight, Chief Executive, The Investing and Saving Alliance
Stephen Jones, Chief Executive, The Stafford Building Society
Gavin Opperman, Chief Executive, Teachers Building Society
Adam Evetts, Chief Executive, Tipton and Coseley Building Society
Darren Ditchburn, Chief Executive, Vernon Building Society
Jonathan Westhoff, Chief Executive, West Brom Building Society
Susan Allen OBE, Chief Executive, Yorkshire Building Society
What does the Treasury say?
A Treasury spokesperson said: "Our ambition remains to ensure people's hard-earned savings are delivering the best returns and driving more investment into the UK economy."
The Treasury added that it is keeping all aspects of savings policy under review, and that it plans to publish strategies for fostering growth in the financial sector in the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy, which will be published on Tuesday 15 July.
Share this guide?
Latest weekly email
Clever ways to calculate your finances
