Landlords need to prepare for the changes coming next year from the Renters Rights Act, which recently received Royal Assent. While detailed guidance is yet to be published, the first phase of reforms will be introduced from 1 May 2026.(1) There are several provisions which those engaged in property letting will need to take into account in their dealings with tenants. Tenancies All existing assured shorthold tenancies will automatically convert to the new tenancy system. All

A government announcement has set tuition fees in England on a rising path once more.*/** In October, the UK Government announced a range of changes for post-16 education. What grabbed headlines were details of the proposed new ‘V Levels’, which will be “new vocational qualifications tied to rigorous and real-world job standard”.1 V Levels will form part of a new educational goal for two-thirds of young people to participate in higher-level learning – academic, technical, or

That time of year has arrived again. How will you balance your finances in 2026? With New Year’s Day falling on a Thursday in 2026, many people will not resume work until Monday 5 January. In theory, that leaves you plenty of time to recover from New Year’s Eve indulgences, if necessary, and contemplate New Year’s resolutions. To help you with the latter, here are half a dozen financial resolutions to ponder: Get a will or, if you have one, make sure it is up to date: If yo

This year’s Budget risked becoming the winter budget, arriving as late as possible on 26 November after a long, rumour-filled run in.* The Chancellor’s first Budget last autumn, on 30 October 2024, came following the early announcements of a raft of revenue-saving measures to fill her infamous “£22 billion blackhole”. Rachel Reeves’s second Budget moved four weeks nearer to Christmas and was preceded by two significant summer U-turns – on the winter fuel payment and disabilit

HMRC is sending out letters asking taxpayers to check their dividend totals.* You may have received something that starts like this: “Dear XX Please make sure your tax return included all your dividend income. We’re writing to ask you to check your self assessment tax return for the year ended 5 April 2024. This needs to include all your dividend income from shares in UK companies. We’ve seen quite a few mistakes in this area on tax returns, and we want to help you get this r

HMRC figures for 2023/24 show cash ISA subscriptions have increased by around 224% more than stocks and shares ISAs by the end of the decade. Source: HMRC.* The Chancellor’s reforms to individual savings accounts (ISAs) to “improve returns for savers” had been considered for some time. ** From April 2027, the Cash element will be reduced to just £12,000 for those under 65. Those aged 65+ can still save up to £20,000 into a cash ISA as usual. Unsurprisingly, in the run up to

In the UK Budget, the Chancellor announced changes to ISA allowances that’ll take effect from April 2027. If you’re over 65: your ISA allowance will remain the same. If you’re under 65: your total allowance will remain the same (£20,000 in the current tax year) but only £12,000 of that can be in a Cash ISA. The remaining £8,000 allowance must be invested in a Stocks and Shares ISA. What is an ISA? An ISA (Individual Savings Account) is a UK savings or investment account desi

Why financial advice is more important than ever The Chancellor unveiled her latest Budget following weeks of leaks and a high-profile- misstep by the OBR that dominated headlines. Cutting through the noise of political spin and media commentary, one fact stands out: taxes are set to climb to unprecedented levels by 2031. Within just five years, the tax burden is forecast to reach 38% of GDP, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility - one of the highest sustained lev

A new report has shown conflicting ideas about retirement.* The report included two questions: Question 1: At what age would you like to retire? Question 2: At what age do you think you will be able to retire? If your answers to those two questions are different, then you are not alone. The report found that the average answer to question 1 was 62.3 years old, while for question 2 it was 67.0, a gap of nearly half a decade. The difference was just 0.9 years for baby boomers –

Nine months into 2025, investment performance may not be what you expect. Source: Investing.com * The daily blog from Financial Times, FT Alphaville, runs a competition every Friday for a trivial prize, such as a T-shirt. The quiz typically involves a trio of graphs with the same question applied to each one: what is being plotted? The answers are usually esoteric: two recent examples were an Argentinian government bond and two classes of debt from First Brands, a US car part

HMRC’s latest statistics show a jump in unclaimed Child Trust Funds (CTFs) to over £1,500,000,000.* CTFs had only a brief existence. They were launched in January 2005 by the previous Labour government and survived for just six years, before being culled by the Conservative /LibDem coalition government in 2011, shortly after it came to power.** While the main reason for their demise was financial, it was also a fact that CTFs failed to capture the public imagination. Over a q

The ingredients to determine next April’s increase in the State pension are now clear and suggest a problem deferred until the 2026 Budget. Source: DWP, HMRC The basis for increases to the old and new State pension is the ‘triple lock’, which sets the change in April to be the greater of: Earnings growth for the period May to July in the previous year, Consumer Price Index inflation to September of the previous year, or 2.5%. The earnings growth figure, 4.7%, was published in

A new survey has revealed a high level of public unawareness of impending pension changes and the need to plan. While there is plenty of media attention on what surprises might emerge in the November Budget, new research has suggested that many people are unaware of pensions reforms and changes to tax already in train. A survey of 1,500 people aged 45 and over undertaken for a UK wealth manager revealed: More than half of respondents were “not at all aware” of upcoming policy

As the Autumn Budget approaches, government bonds are coming back into the spotlight. In what can seem like an effort to confuse, government bonds are often referred to as gilts. There are two good reasons for the name: In the distant era of paper certificates, government bonds were on gilt-edged paper. There has never been an instance when the UK government has failed to make the payment due. Gilts are effectively IOUs issued by the government to finance the gap between its

Are you considering drawing a lump sum from your pension before the Autumn Budget? One of the major tax benefits of saving through pensions is that, generally, 25% of the pension’s value can be drawn as a lump sum, free of income tax, up to a maximum of £268,275. From the point of view of the law, that cash is defined as a pension commencement lump sum (PCLS) which, as the name suggests, must be taken at the same time pension income starts to be drawn. In practice, the level

The former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s recent problems with stamp duty land tax (SDLT) offer a salutary lesson. In early...

The government has published its reply to the many responses made to last October’s consultation paper on bringing pensions within the...

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have been surveying 40–75 year olds, with some interesting responses. The DWP have recently...

August’s cut in interest rates of 0.25% was far from straightforward and has implications for future moves. Source: Bank of England The...

Shortly before Parliament closed for its summer holidays, the government announced a review of the State pension age (SPA). Pensioners...