Autumn Budget: Reeves reviews ISAs, pensions and property tax changes

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is preparing a wide-ranging Autumn Budget on November 26 that could include major changes to individual savings and property taxes as she seeks to close a multi‑billion pound gap in the public finances, officials and independent analysts say. Options under active consideration include reforming individual savings accounts, measures affecting pensions, and an overhaul of property taxation, with the Treasury holding talks with financial firms and thinktanks in recent weeks.

Reeves has been briefed on forecasts showing a shortfall in the public finances that officials and economists put in the tens of billions of pounds, prompting a search for revenue and reforms that do not breach the government’s stated pledge on income tax, VAT and employee national insurance. The Chancellor has said she is looking at both tax and spending and that the Budget will ensure the numbers add up. Treasury spokespeople have said cash savings remain important and will be protected, while also stressing a desire to encourage more households to invest in the UK economy.

One concrete change being explored would cut the annual cash ISA limit from the current £20,000 to about...