Money, money, money: why everyone will soon be talking about investing

It’s been a big week for important announcements that could have an impact on many people’s personal finances.

The government has laid out plans to get more people investing, the financial regulator has proposed initiatives to reform the UK stock market, and a review of lending rules could lead to more people getting on the housing ladder.

We’ll now go through the key areas to explain the plans and address earlier speculation around potential tweaks to how much money you can put into a Cash ISA.

Encouraging more people to invest

Once a year, the chancellor gives a ‘Mansion House’ speech to the financial services sector, outlining priorities and future plans for the industry.

There was a lot of chatter leading up to the event that current chancellor, Rachel Reeves, would cut the amount of money you can put into a Cash ISA each year, with the aim of encouraging more people to take on extra risks by investing.

That didn’t happen. Instead, we simply had confirmation that the government would continue to consider reforms to ISAs as part of a wider push to get more people investing.

A big campaign is in the works to support the government’s plans. It is planning a series of advertisements to highlight the potential benefits of putting money into the markets, and banks will send investment opportunities to savers who have cash sitting in low-interest accounts. The government believes moving £2,000 from these accounts to stocks and shares could make millions of people over £9,000 better off in 20 years’ time.

“Kickstarting an investing revolution could boost household finances and UK capital markets in the process,” commented Michael Summersgill, Chief Executive of AJ Bell. “With at least £100 billion sat in Cash ISA accounts held by savers with £20,000 or more in cash but no ISA investments, there is a huge prize at stake if government gets this right.”

People often think investing is only for the wealthy, or something which you need a great deal of financial knowledge to get involved in. In reality, there are plenty of straightforward products designed for ordinary people. And you don’t need tens of thousands of pounds to start investing.

This campaign could help to break taboos around investing and encourage more people to get involved.

Other ways financial services companies might offer help

The FCA, a financial regulator, has designed an initiative called ‘targeted support’ to improve the help people receive from financial services firms about their finances.

It has outlined examples where targeted support might be used in practice. For instance, currently financial services firms can warn a consumer they may be under-saving for retirement. Under targeted support, a firm could suggest an alternative pension contribution rate.

Among other examples, investors might receive a message from their investment platform provider if they could save money by switching to a different fund with lower charges. The regulator has also indicated that under targeted support, a platform could alert a customer if their pension withdrawals look unsustainable and suggest an alternative drawdown rate.

Helping companies get more from the UK stock market

The FCA wants to make the UK stock market more attractive for companies already on it, and for companies thinking about admitting their shares for public trading.

Part of this push is to remove red tape. Under the current system, listed companies have to produce detailed documents if they want to raise money worth 20% or more of their existing share capital. From January 2026, the threshold will rise to 75%, implying that companies will be able to raise money with less hassle.

The FCA also wants to improve access for retail investors to IPOs – initial public offerings, which is when a company first joins a stock market. The length of time between a prospectus and the shares admitted for trading will be halved.

There should also be easier access to corporate bonds for retail investors. There will be a single disclosure standard for bond prospectuses, which will reduce costs for companies and make it easier to issue smaller-sized bonds.

Helping more people get on the housing ladder

The government already has various policies designed to help turn people’s dreams of getting on the housing ladder into reality, including a target to build 1.5 million more homes by 2029 and relax the planning system. There are now more initiatives on the cards including a permanent mortgage guarantee scheme aimed at supporting buyers with a deposit as small as 5%.

The Bank of England will allow more lending at over 4.5 times a buyer’s income, which the government says could help 36,000 more people buy a home over its first year. Nationwide is to lower income thresholds for one of its mortgage products that lends up to six times a buyer’s income in a move that could support an extra 10,000 first-time buyers.

Furthermore, the FCA is weighing up if lenders should be allowed to recognise prospective buyers who always pay rent on time when considering if they can afford mortgage repayments.