National Savings (Amendment) Regulations 2026

UK New Legislation

Published April 6th, 2026

Detected March 11th, 2026

Summary

The UK Treasury has issued the National Savings (Amendment) Regulations 2026, effective April 6th, 2026. These amendments modify the National Savings Regulations 2015 concerning deposits to individual savings accounts.

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What changed

The National Savings (Amendment) Regulations 2026, effective April 6th, 2026, amend the National Savings Regulations 2015. Key changes include updating the minimum age for opening individual savings accounts (ISAs) to align with the Individual Savings Account Regulations 1998, removing a specific age of sixteen years. Additionally, the regulations revoke the prohibition on depositors opening more than one ISA in a financial year, bringing it into consistency with the 1998 Regulations.

These amendments are considered minor and primarily serve to harmonize age requirements and ISA opening rules between different statutory instruments. Regulated entities involved in administering savings accounts should review their internal policies and documentation to ensure compliance with the updated age and multiple ISA opening provisions by the effective date of April 6th, 2026. No specific compliance deadlines beyond the effective date are noted, and no penalties are mentioned for non-compliance with these specific amendments.

What to do next

Review and update internal policies regarding the minimum age for opening individual savings accounts to align with the Individual Savings Account Regulations 1998.
Ensure systems and processes allow depositors to open more than one ISA per financial year, as the previous prohibition has been removed.

Source document (simplified)

Status:

This is the original version (as it was originally made). This item of legislation is currently only available in its original format.

Statutory Instruments

2026 No. 266

FINANCIAL SERVICES

The National Savings (Amendment) Regulations 2026

Made

9th March 2026

Laid before Parliament

10th March 2026

Coming into force

6th April 2026

The Treasury make these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 2(1) of the National Savings Bank Act 1971(1).

Citation, commencement and extent

—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the National Savings (Amendment) Regulations 2026 and come into force on 6th April 2026.

(2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Amendment of the National Savings Regulations 2015

—(1) The National Savings Regulations 2015(2) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 25 (deposits to individual savings accounts)—

(a) in paragraph (2), for “age of sixteen years” substitute “minimum age for opening that account in accordance with the Individual Savings Account Regulations 1998(3)”;

(b) omit paragraph (7).

Taiwo Owatemi

Gen Kitchen

Two of the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury

9th March 2026

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the National Savings Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/623) (“ the 2015 Regulations ”).

Regulation 2(2)(a) of these Regulations amends regulation 25(2) of the 2015 Regulations (deposits to individual savings accounts) by removing reference to the minimum age to open an adult ISA of 16 years old and replacing it with a reference to the minimum age in accordance with the Individual Savings Account Regulations 1998 (S.I. 1998/1870) (“ the 1998 Regulations ”). The 1998 Regulations specify different applicable ages according to the type of product, and this amendment allows for consistency between the two Regulations by not prescribing a separate age requirement.

Regulation 2(2)(b) of these Regulations revokes regulation 25(7) of the 2015 Regulations. This removes the prohibition on depositors opening more than one ISA in a financial year which is consistent with the 1998 Regulations.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as measures affecting businesses that are acting on behalf of a public authority are excluded under section 27 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015.

(1) 1971 c. 29.

(2) S.I. 2015/623.

(3) S.I. 1998/1870.